Slavery museum

It was very encouraging to read about proposals to use the old sugar sheds at Watt Dock in Greenock for a museum about Scotland’s connections with slavery.

This would be an excellent venue by the Clyde where the great sugar and tobacco loads were deposited. It would also be a way of bringing muchneeded public and private investment into Inverclyde. MSP Stuart Mcmillan’s proposal to seek support from those firms and families who were associated with slavery would be a practical way of making reparations.

The link with Rabbie Burns and his proposed life in plantation administration is another aspect of 18th-century Scottish life that would be worthy of further exploration.

Unlike some, I would not be too critical of Burns’s plans to move to Jamaica, given the poverty and brutality of Scottish farming life at that time. His beautiful tribute, A Slave’s Lament, shows his empathy for those trapped in the terrible circumstances of slavery. I doubt he would have lasted long in Jamaica.

On frequent trips to Liverpool I have been a visitor to the wonderful Slavery Museum on the Quayside. There has been a very diverse collection of visitors – schoolchildren, tourists and families of all backgrounds. The exhibitions feature commentaries from young people from local schools and visitors. It is clear they have taken the message of tolerance and respect for human rights very seriously.

A Scottish museum about slavery would open up many opportunities for students and researchers to produce origiilton nal material. There are many stories waiting to be told about those ex-slaves who became part of 19th century life and active in radical politics, welcoming ex-slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass on his tours from 1846 onwards.

This would be a very worthwhile project to support the Black Lives Matter Campaign.

MAGGIE CHETTY Woodend Drive, Glasgow