J.P. Morgan meets the reparations crusaders

Wish I'd said that!

[Reprinted from Issues & Views June 28, 2004]

The crusade for slavery reparations rolls on, as its advocates come up almost daily with new schemes and strategies. While some institutions challenge the outrageous demands made by reparations activists to account for policies that were in force centuries ago, there are always those that view meekness as the better, less aggravating route to take. Fran Spielman, writing in the Chicago Sun-Times (6/25/04), tells of the latest moves by Bank One, in response to reparations demands. The bank recently filed an amended "slavery disclosure affidavit" with Chicago's City Hall, which reveals "fresh new details of its search for skeletons in the closets of its Louisiana predecessors." Spielman writes:

Determined to avoid a repeat of the slave disclosure controversy that has embroiled its merger partner, J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank One states in the new affidavit that Citizens Bank, formed in 1833, and Canal and Banking Co., formed in 1831, "did business in Louisiana during this era and probably did business with persons or entities that employed slaves." The affidavit also names a series of Louisiana banks that Bank One believes may have been its predecessors.

Alderman Dorothy Tillman , champion of the City Council's slave reparations movement, said she has no doubt that Bank One's researcher will uncover specific ties to slavery because a research team led by the alderman's daughter already has.

Yes, black activists in Chicago have acquired enough political clout to prevent a company from doing business with the city, if its officials do not first file a statement attesting to said company's past involvement in any aspect of slave commerce, or lack thereof. If the slightest hint of a company's lineage can be traced even as far back as the 16th or 17th centuries, no matter how many times a company has changed hands or merged with other businesses, today's current management will be held accountable. This is the first step in a process designed eventually to lead to monetary restitution.

Bank One's merger with J.P. Morgan Chase is scheduled to become effective on July 1. Morgan officials previously signed the "slave" affidavit, declaring no past involvement with slavery, but reparations fanatics accuse them of lying. As unbelievable as it seems, Morgan spokesmen have entered an apologist mode, while the company's Midwest chairman, Bill Daley (the Mayor's brother), remains silent. Feeling confident and cocky, Alderman Tillman gloats, "Bill Daley understands the lay of the land." No doubt he does.

While 21st century "African-Americans" continue to contrive methods to extort bounties from white Americans, a native African from the Ivory Coast has a different view of things. Roger Ngoan M'bala, director of the film "Adanggaman," which graphically depicts the well-developed role of slave trading among Africans long before the Europeans came to the continent, asks why African traders are any less responsible for what happened to the slaves than those who purchased them. And African journalist Mafarma Sanogo claims that blacks "would embarrass ourselves" to ask for reparations. "The Negro kings, who enslaved other black people, made the bondage of their own sons possible in the New World. Who is it we can compensate today?"

Copyright © 2008 Issues & Views