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Posted on 07/08/2003 4:21:09 PM PDT by chance33_98
Slave Descendants in Reparations Lawsuit Applaud President Bush's Speech at Goree Island in Senegal
7/8/03 7:14:00 PM
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To: National Desk
Contact: Deadria Farmer-Paellmann of the Restitution Study Group, 917-365-3007
NEW YORK, July 8 /U.S. Newswire/ -- "I applaud President Bush's statement made today on Goree Island that slavery was 'one of the greatest crimes in history'. Our lawsuit against 19 blue-chip corporations for slavery reparations is based on this fact," said Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, lead plaintiff in the class action lawsuits filed for reparations from blue-chip corporations. As with President Bush, international law recognizes that slavery was a crime against humanity for which there is no statute of limitation.
Slavery did not end in 1865 in the United States of America with the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. Several plaintiffs in the pending lawsuits were enslaved in 20th Century United States. Sadly, one of these plaintiffs died last week on July 4th, Independence Day.
The president's statement should send a message to defendants in the lawsuit that the truth about slavery being a crime is reaching all levels of society. Corporate defendants should not be able to continue profiting from their crimes. Furthermore, within the last year, the defendants have violated consumer protection laws by communicating false and misleading statements to their consumers about their slave labor practices. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are consumers of the defendants, as are other members of the plaintiff class. We expect these matters to go to trial too. "A recent United States Supreme Court decision, Nike v. Kasky, affirms our right to a trial on these consumer protection matters," said Farmer-Paellmann. Nike was accused of making false statements to its consumers about its labor practices. The Supreme Court sent the case back to state court for a trial -- a major victory for consumers.
"We urge President Bush to back-up his passionate words about slavery with reconciliatory action by supporting HR 40," said Conrad Worrill, a reparations activist who has been instrumental in organizing the African American community to attend court hearings on the reparations case. HR40 is a bill Congressman John Conyers has been introducing into Congress since 1989. It would create a commission to study the effects of slavery on the descendants of enslaved Africans.
As President Bush said today, "the stolen sons and daughters of Africa helped to awaken the conscience of America." He now has the opportunity to clear the conscience of America through the appointment of an independent mediator to bring the litigant class and corporations to reconciliation as was done in the Holocaust reparations cases.
A horrible, horrible crime that produced the wealthiest, best-educated, longest-lived and most powerful subSaharan African community in human history.
I'm putting on my sackcloth and ashes as I type.
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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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It is in the breaking news sidebar! |
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This should be posted on every "reparations" thread. Simple, dramatic, truthful, and to the point.
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