Wachovia, PNC, Citizens Bank, Bank of America, and Mellon Bank Disclose past ties to slavery

Recent filings with the City Treasurer's office have revealed that five out of nine city depositories have ties to slavery.

On Wednesday, all city depositories submitted filings to the treasurer's office in response to an annual request for information by the City Council.

As part of the request, Wachovia, PNC, Citizens Bank, Bank of America, and Mellon, which is partly owned by Citizens, have all disclosed ties to slavery through predecessor institutions, according to Councilman W. Wilson Goode Jr.

Two of the city's depositories, Advanced and Commerce, did not disclose any ties as they were both formed after slavery with no predecessor institutions. United Bank was also formed after the time of slavery with no predecessor institutions. However, United and Republic First Bank did not respond regarding disclosure.

Brian Goerke, PNC spokesman, said the Pennsylvania-based bank has conducted research through a reputable independent company that found there was no evidence that any of PNC's predecessor institutions profited from slavery or owned slaves.

He added PNC would not publicly release its report and did not comment on whether PNC had absolutely had no connection with slavery, though Goode said the disclosure statement does indicate ties.

Each bank was required to submit the historical data on May 31 as part of a Council mandate that required city depositories provide the city with community reinvestment goals, fair lending strategic plans and slavery disclosure.

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Slavery profits are aim of N.C.Bill -- Lawmaker wants to know which contractors with state have Profited from Slavery

• NC Republicans Against Reparations  Bill
  

If any companies with state contracts made profits from the slave trade in the 17th, 18th or 19th centuries, state Rep. Larry Womble wants to know about it. Womble, D-Forsyth, and Rep. Earl Jones, D-Guilford, are the sponsors of a bill that would require companies that contract with the state to search their records for participation in the slavery business and disclose any profits they derived. The bill got a favorable recommendation yesterday from the House State Government Committee, of which Womble is a co-chairman. Womble emphasized that the bill does not forbid companies that profited from slavery to do business with the state. The bill does say, though, that a state agency "may" cancel a contract with a company that fails to provide accurate information on its slavery profits in an affidavit. "It doesn't preclude them from ... doing business. It's just to see if they profited from slavery," Womble said. "It does not say that you will not get any business," he said. "It does not say that you will not get to bid. It doesn't say any of that. It's just to shine a light.... It's just shining a light on that part of our history." Womble said that California and Chicago have adopted similar requirements.  "We do need to acknowledge that the system existed in the United States." Womble said that vestiges of slavery still exist in the form of segregated housing and a gap between wages earned by black and white workers. However, some Republicans and business interests view the bill as flawed. [more] and [more]

Survivors and descendants of country's worst race riot take their case to the Supreme Court

In 2001 for the first time ever, there was a national report by the state of Oklahoma saying, `We got it wrong. Blacks were not the cause. They were the victims and we owe them reparations.' And the reason that it's so important is because the story about Tulsa in 1921, '30s, '40s, '50s, '60s, all the way up until 2000 was different than the story that was finally revealed with evidence that had been suppressed, that had been concealed, and it finally came forward. So if people look at this report, they will see for the first time what happened and why this case is in court and see that there's a compelling case like in Greenwood, like with the Japanese-Americans, like with the victims of the Holocaust, that this is a case that cries out for relief. GORDON: And you do liken that to atrocities that we've seen before? Prof. OGLETREE: Indeed. In many respects because most people have never heard of Greenwood. Most people don't even know that blacks were murdered because of a race riot. Most people don't realize that prominent places like the Stratford Hotel, the Dreamland Theater, Buck Colbert Franklin's law office. He was John Hope Franklin, the great historian. His father's law office was burnt down. And now we can't deny that it happened and this is a case where the victims are alive and they've come forward now after many, many years of suffering in silence.

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Virgin Islands group to discuss reparations for Slavery from Denmark

A Virgin Islands group pushing for reparations from Denmark for the effects of more than 200 years of slavery and colonialism has been invited to send a delegation to Copenhagen for discussions next month. Shelley Moorhead, a local activist and president of the African-Caribbean Reparations and Resettlement Alliance, will head the delegation, which plans to travel to Denmark from April 7 through 11. The group is seeking additional funding so more Virgin Islanders can participate in the four-day visit, during which they expect to work with Danish institutions to set the stage for a reparations task force. One of the main goals of the delegation is to brainstorm ways Denmark can reinvest in the territory's economy through collaborations and partnerships. [more]

Ca - Slave Laborers of Nazis Awarded Reparations -- Get $401 Million

The Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany, which specializes in Holocaust reparations issues, announced Monday that it will distribute $401 million this week to 130,681 Nazi slave laborers -- including more than 4,300 in California -- from 62 countries around the world. The organization has distributed a total of $1.3 billion to former slave and forced laborers, said Gideon Taylor, the executive vice president of the conference in New York. The bulk of the money came from a fund created in 2000 by the German government and financed by major German corporations. About $200 million came from a settlement Jewish organizations reached with Swiss banks in 1998. [more]

Namibia Tribe Marks Genocide, Demands Reparations

Hundreds of Herero tribespeople gathered in Botswana on Saturday to pay homage to ancestors killed by German soldiers in Namibia who almost wiped out their people a century ago. Tribal leaders used Saturday's commemoration to press their demands for $4 billion in compensation from Germany's government and companies which they say benefited from slavery and exploitation under German rule of what is now Namibia. [more]

U.S. Apology First Step Only - Tribal Leaders

An apology would be "the highest mark in history for native Americans," said Buchanan from the northern state of Michigan. "As you know, (we) take the spoken word very very seriously. When we're lied to it's probably one of the worst things on earth. You take what someone says and you trust, but when you get burnt over and over again an apology like that does mean a lot." Many of the country's four million indigenous people -- often referred to as American Indians -- say Washington never lived up to the promises it made in hundreds of treaties it made with their ancestors as it colonised the territory that became the United States. [more]

Apology to Native Americans is fine but justice is better

Congress is now considering an official apology to "all Native Peoples on behalf of the United States." The merits of such an apology are the very chapters that make up the history of the United States. The proposed, official U.S. apology cites "broken treaties" and "bloody confrontations and massacres." It tells of official condemnation of native religions and the removal of children from their parents and families.  [more]

Pine Bluff City Council Endorses Reparations

The Pine Bluff City Council voted Tuesday to allow 1st Ward Alderwoman Irene Holcomb to sign a resolution endorsing reparations for African-Americans. The resolution endorsed a U.S. House of Representatives bill that would create a panel to study the possibility of reparations for African-Americans. The resolution was sponsored by 4th Ward Alderman Jackie Kirby. [more]

Houston City Councilwoman Urges Support of Reparations bill

Houston City Councilwoman says slavery's effects are long-lasting:
Urges Support of Reparations bill
She said she wants people to ask the mayor to support House Bill 40, known as the reparations bill, that would create a study of slavery's effects on African-Americans in the United States"People think this bill would pay every African-American descendent. No, it's a study, collecting the data to do a study," she said. "I want you to jump on the bandwagon." [more]