U.S. firms sued over slavery

CNN Money (AP) ^ | March 25, 2002

[RippleFire]

Claim filed on behalf of slave descendants says they continue to suffer effects.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Three U.S. corporations are accused of profiting from the slavery of African Americans in a lawsuit brought by a New York human rights activist, according to a news reportMonday.

[RippleFire]

Time for a little PC extortion.

[weikel]

Thing is most big corporations in the US didn't exist till after the civil war when slavery was abolished and they were mostly loyal Union companies who became big off war contracts so not only is this punishing the sons for the sins of the fathers but the fathers never really did anything either.

[Bikers4Bush]

Shouldn't take long to get this thrown out. The statute of limitations fro BS like this has to have run out long, long ago.

[drone]

I wonder if the Union Soldiers' families can get some money from the slave families for freeing them from slavery?

[bibarnes]

Under "normal" circumstances I would say this suit has no chance. If I were the defendants attorney I would show that, if all "slave decendants" were to be expatriated and made a sovereign nation they would be the 9th richest nation on earth. There isn't a single country on the African continent that comes that high.

I am not saying that slavery was good or beneficial, I am saying that reparations to decendants is wrong.

There is no one alive in this country that owned or was a slave. But, there are slave owners in the world today. I know that it will come as a surprise to know that the Sudan still has large pockets of Slavery. I can't remember where Sudan is though. Could someone tell me.

[mn12]

I'm sure that within the past 200 years or so, one or more of my ancestors had a really crappy life. Which of course is the reason I'm not a millionaire now. So, where so I collect my reparations check?

[bibarnes]

Hey! I like that idea, my great grandfather was a Captain and his brother was a Lieutenant in the Union Army. All donations will be gladly accepted

[Constitutional Patriot]

"...whose descendents continue to suffer the effects of enslavement."

Oh really?!?! Looks to me that any suffering being experienced by "descendents" is the result of 3 generations of welfareand the destruction of the family that these left wing social experiments caused.

[Clara Lou]

i don't know all of the details, but these companies would have been engaged in what were legal activites back then. My urge is to say that "This is the stupidest thing I ever heard of," but it's just so inadequate! I hope this yutz will have to pay court costs when she/he/it gets tossed out of court.

[Brute_Force]

These crybabies deserve nothing but our contempt regardless of what color they are. Everybody's been a victim of injustice --- that's life; get over it! This lawsuit deserves to be thrown out of court just as these losers don't deserve the benefits of living in the U.S.A. The only people who would benefit from such a lawsuit are the lawyers anyway.

[goldstategop]

This lawsuit is without any legal merit. But that may not matter if the plaintiffs can create the perception the insurance company defendants are hiding something. The rule of law is going going gone in America. Why would the President for example, sign a law he well knows is unconstitutional? The fact that slavery ended over 150 years ago isn't going to deter the plaintiffs. If they think they can pull a Toyota on the firms just sued, they've hit the jackpot. Its all about money, folks.

[FreeAtlanta]

The problem might be, if one of the companies caves (due to having an inside sympathizer... or someone, who has lawyer friends who will benefit trough his/her company being extorted), it could set off a chain reacation. Truly troubling development.

Don't these sobs care about the nation where they have been born? We have 1st generation African immigrants, who appreciate this nation a world of a lot more then some of the lazy b#$2#% who file these suits.

[Bikers4Bush]

Benefits to Native Americans were negotiated a long time ago and are based on treaties. WWII was only 63 years ago and there is significant documented evidence from a time when slavery was illegal.

Slavery was 150 years ago and legal until Lincoln ended it. You can't sue a company for doing something that was legal at the time. You can't make laws retroactive.

[FreeAtlanta]

There is also slavery in our inner cities. Check some info on pimps and how the control their property (be it women or young men).

[Bikers4Bush]

And if that happens I'll sue the groups that are suing for reparations based on the fact that my great, great grandfather lost his leg in the war fighting to free their ancestors.

[aomagrat]

[goldstategop]

The opinion in the court of public opinion is far more important than winning with a weak case in court. Remember the Boston power lines case on The Practice? A clever lawyer will nothing to work with but emotion can still win big if he can convince people beyond the jury his clients have been unfairly treated by the system. Its basically the argument of jury nullification offered here, the law be damned, screw the insurance companies, the folks everyone loves to hate cause they're miserly and stingy towards beneficiaries. And just how much did the victims of slavery get from them? So you can see the last thing that will be appealed to in this case is the law.

[FreeAtlanta]

I have the same feeling about having paid reparations to Japanese for internmant. I am sorry internment happened, but it was war, and everyone made sacrifices (many with their lives or the lives of loved ones). The internment was legal. It probably saved many Japanese lives.

However, we should have done a better job of documenting and protecting their property while they were relocated.