This kind of glib disavowal is dangerous. Here’s why.

My great aunt was a Mary MacDonald who lived in a slum flat in the Gorbals. Working class, worked all hours etc. She wasn’t responsible for slavery but her life was entangled in it. https://twitter.com/mikedailly/status/1343230922158710785

She grew up on a croft where her father made ends meet by working for the Baillies of Dochfour – they made a fortune from slavery. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/apr/16/scotland-guyana-past-abolitionists-slavery-caribbean

Mary left the croft to go into service with McIntosh of McIntosh family at Moy Hall, and much of their wealth also came from Jamaican slavery. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/estate/view/2641

In Glasgow, Mary went to a church that was founded with financial support from slave owners. https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/full/10.3366/inr.2013.0061

Various cousins and uncles fought in imperial wars, and built Britain’s imperial infrastructure.

On the croft, one of the collies had a name that came from a racial epithet.

Everyone loved Auntie Mary. She was kind and hard-working. But like for most of us in Scotland, her life is caught up in structures of empire and slavery.

We need to talk about this *in its particularity* – in our own families – & reflect on how we continue to benefit, as per this excellent thread. https://twitter.com/ewangibbs/status/1343560791115575297?s=20