Published: Thursday, 3rd April, 2008 1:56pm

Churches accused of anti-slavery walk snub

CHURCH leaders accused of snubbing an anti-slavery walk through Musselburgh, in a row over a controversial publicity poster, have been branded 'hypocrites' by a slave descendant who led the march.

Clergy from St Andrew"s High, St Clements and St Ninians, St Michael"s Inveresk, and Musselburgh North Esk refused to publicise the Wedderburn Freedom Walk, organised by the Old Musselburgh Club last Sunday, because they deemed a advertising poster unsuitable for children.

The route of the walk re-enacts the journey taken by a Jamaican ex-slave, Robert Wedderburn, to see his father, the notorious ex-slave master, James Wedderburn, at Inveresk Lodge in 1795.

Robert was rebuffed and sent packing, reportedly with 'a cracked sixpence and a small glass of beer'. He later became a famous abolitionist against slavery.

Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS) organised a commemorative walk in his honour last year to mark the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade in British colonies.

But this is the second consecutive year four Musselburgh churches have shunned the walk, arguing that a 200-year-old promotional cartoon for the event, depicting a semi-naked female slave being brutalised on a British merchant ship, was too explicit.

In a letter to ACTS, St Andrew"s High minister, the Rev Yvonne Atkins, maintained that the poster would 'not be used to advertise the walk in our churches'.

She added that it was 'hard to believe' that there were not more suitable images that could be used and that local clergy had insufficient time to find a compromise with organisers.

ACTS assistant general secretary, Rev Lyndsey Sanderson, said they had helped organise commemorative events nationwide, yet the Musselburgh parish group were the only objectors to the poster campaign.

She said: 'I was surprised at the nature of the complaint. They felt the image was inappropriate for children to see. I have children of five and seven-years-old and did not feel it was inappropriate for them to see for it conveys the truth and reality of historical events.'

A key organiser of ACTS"s walk in 2007 and slave descendant, Professor Geoff Palmer, of Penicuik, hit out at the Musselburgh parishes" stance, labelling them 'hypocrites'.

He said: 'My ancestors were victims of James Wedderburn"s inhumanity and I find the actions of these ministers unchristian and debilitating.

'Children go with their parents to church every Sunday where there are images of Jesus being crucified with a spear in his side and a crown of thorns on his head. The image of Christ is a fairly gruesome one but it helps to get the message across - it is just blatant hypocrisy on their part'.

The Heriot-Watt University professor attended a meeting with a representative of the Musselburgh parish group, Yvonne Atkins, in the run up to the event last year and said even then the churches were 'ambivalent' to the abolition commemorations.

He said: 'I think they felt Musselburgh was being unfairly targeted by staging a walk here. But the slave master James Wedderburn is buried in the grounds of St Michael"s Church, Inveresk and maybe they were worried about embarrassing the town and were seeking to protect it.

'But it"s not protection at all because the people of Musselburgh have a right to know their history.'

Church of Scotland spokeswoman, Pat Holdgate, said in a statment that it was regretful that Professor Palmer had not discussed his concerns with them, but added she hoped to establish more fluid dialogue in future.

'There was an opportunity for us to be able to make this more than a commemorative walk and to put the emphasis on the continuing plight of those who find themselves enslaved,' the statement added.

But Prof Palmer said that making a correlation between modern human trafficking and government sanctioned slavery was an insulting.

'To compare something which is illegal (trafficking) with slavery, which was legal under British law, is an insult to the many slaves who died before abolition.'

He said there was no official representatives from the four Musselburgh churches mentioned at the walk.

It is understood organisers of last Sunday"s walk, the Old Musselburgh Club, were unaware of the churches" opposition to the cartoon - used on all promotional material for the event.

But a source inside the organisation, and a regular Musselburgh churchgoer, described their intransigence as 'slap in the face'.

'Our minister said they would make a public announcement about the walk,' he said.

'I attend services weekly and have never heard a word from the pulpit about it. The churches did not actively support the publicity for the event.'

The Old Musselburgh Club announced at their AGM in February that they would make the Wedderburn Freedom Walk an annual event and plan to stage a further commemoration next year.

More than 40 people turned out for the walk on Sunday, a considerable drop in numbers from the bicentenary commemorations in 2007.

At the forefront was Professor Palmer with his wife, son-in-law and two grandchildren. Musical accompaniment to the walk was provided by Dunbar Pipe Band.

The walk took about a half-hour to complete.