A DUNFERMLINE race equality campaigner is calling on West Fifers to speak up against racial injustice by sharing videos on social media. 

Under current lockdown measures, Fife Centre for Equalities is urging the public not to attend mass protests for safety.

But you can share your views in a short video with hashtags #EqualFife and #BlackLivesMatter.

Trustee Sid Akbar has been fighting against racial bias for decades but feels people are genuinely listening for the first time following worldwide outrage at the death of black American George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer. 

Sid has been subject to horrific violence because of the colour of his skin all his life but day-to-day living he says is just as “exhausting” here in Dunfermline today. 

“It is ignorant to think that Scotland does not have a problem with racism,” Sid said. 

“Yes, Dunfermline, is lovely but how many times have I wished that I woke up white just so I could walk down the High Street without getting a second glance or look? 

“It’s mentally exhausting.

“Enough is enough.”

Sid is known for setting up the Dunfermline American Football club and for his work as part of Dunfermline Central Mosque among many things but the racism he has endured has shaped every part of his life to the present day. 

He said: "It's horrible to live in a society that you feel doesn't care. It's not a lefty agenda or about lifting black people over white – we would just like to be listened to."

Sid, 52, was born in Glasgow but moved to Bannockburn with his parents from Pakistan and India to start primary school and from the moment he walked into the classroom, he was subjected to cruel, racist attacks. 

"I was the first brown person in the school and it was like a UFO had landed in a field to the community there," Sid said. 

"My experience in Bannockburn has left me with trauma which has haunted me for years and I have needed counselling. 

"I got the s*** kicked out of me daily and I saw adults who should have been protecting me just stand and watch. 

"That made me think that I must have deserved it and reinforced the message that it was my fault for daring to live in this country. 

"I wish I could say it was just ignorance rather than racism but the bullying lasted the entirety of primary school."

On his first day of school, young Sid was taken to the headteacher's office because his fear of his peers was mistaken automatically for stupidity. 

In one of just many incidents, a kid threw a water balloon full of urine at him and his teacher left him to sit in soiled clothes all day. 

Dealing with dog dirt smeared in his hair was a regular occurrence as were beatings leaving him bloody. 

"What broke me was one night when my mum was washing the dog s*** off again and she broke down in tears," Sid said. 

"She ran off and was shouting at my dad asking why he had brought us to this uncivilised country? 

"I had to agree with her, my experience made me think that white people were barbaric savages that had no humanity. 

"In response, I became very smart and would stop off at the library on my way home and clean up myself so my mum didn't have to go through that again. 

"By the end of primary school, one day I just snapped and I punched back and that did not help to be honest because after that I became violent. 

"When I was at high school, I was fighting with a boy who had been making racist slurs to me all day.

"I had him pinned down and another pupil ran at me with steel Doc Martins, leaving me with a broken nose, two knocked-out teeth and two black eyes. 

"I was just sent to walk home and was told I had deserved it. My parents had to take me to hospital and I don't know why it took until then for my dad to snap but we moved to Stirling after that. 

"There was still racism in Stirling but it felt like paradise compared to what I had endured."

Despite the horrendous physical attacks, Sid believes he has been more damaged mentally than anything else. 

Racism has shaped everything he has done from making sure he was top of the class to prove a point to pushing him to play American Football because he wasn't welcome to play football with rest of his peers. 

Last year, Sid attempted to commit suicide haunted by the trauma of his past and, as an adult, he says he has seen racism all around him from the justice system and in the Scottish police force. 

"At 50, I'm just as confused by racism as I was when I was five," Sid explained. 

"Those who are offended by the term 'white privilege' have no clue that people like me have had to endure. People don't seem to recognise privilege. 

"In America, it's glaringly obvious but once people start researching they will see racism here. There is a lot of work needed to be done, particularly in our education.

"Too many people think it's their problem but it does affect everyone in a globalised society."