Would Burns ‘Take the Knee’ today?How could our Burns, the people’s poet, look to become an instrument in what many now call ‘The Black Holocaust’?Did Burns intend to travel knowing he would become a slavedriver, and broadly what that meant in terms of imposing suffering on others?Did this knowledge change his mind on emigrating to Jamaica?What would Burns have done had he actually gone?In the last decade of his life, as the debate for Abolition grew louder in Scotland, to what extent did this campaigning tide of information change his mindset?How was Burns used after his death in the fights for Abolition and Emancipation, particularly in the USA – in its Civil War and its Civil Rights movement?Through meticulous research and a compelling narrative, Clark McGinn examines Burns’ connections to the transatlantic slave trade, highlighting the paradoxes and moral conflicts during the poet’s time. He does not shy away from uncomfortable truths, presenting a nuanced portrait that challenges readers to reconcile Burns’ literary genius with the ethical ambiguities of his time.Burns and Black Lives is an essential read for those interested in the intersections of literature, history and social justice, offering a profound re-examination of one of Scotland’s most iconic figures.
