The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in 1865. Wachovia Corp. was founded in 1879. But the corporation found it necessary to issue a public apology for its “role” in slavery: to wit, slaves owned by “the Bank of Charleston and the Georgia Railroad and Banking Co.—two of the approximately 400 financial institutions dating back to 1781 that over the centuries merged with or were acquired by other institutions that eventually became part of the conglomerate known today as Wachovia.” Jeff Jacoby is critical of the decision.
‘Forcing Wachovia to ransack old records for links to slavery is nothing but a prelude to a shakedown,” warns Peter Flaherty, president of the National Legal and Policy Center, which has published a detailed critique of the reparations campaign. ”By trying to appease these hustlers, Wachovia only encourages greater demands.”
(Boston Globe, Jun. 9; NLPC report) (via Volokh). Earlier coverage: Jan. 26, 2004.
3 Comments
THE SHAKEDOWN BREAKDOWN
Walter Olson at Overlawyered has an excellent blog series on the reparations scam–see here, here, and here. Meanwhile, Instapunk takes out the Reparations Calculator and tallies up the debts. *** Previous: The Wachovia shakedown…
THE SHAKEDOWN BREAKDOWN
Walter Olson *and Ted Frank* at Overlawyered have an excellent blog series on the reparations scam–see here, here, and here. Meanwhile, Instapunk takes out the Reparations Calculator and tallies up the debts. Update: The always insightful Jeff Jacoby’…
An apology for what?
Wachovia Corp. chairman Ken Thompson: “We are deeply saddened by these findings. I apologize to all Americans, and especially to African-Americans.” Wachovia acknowledged that it “cannot change the past or atone for the harm that was done.”