Free Republic

SAN FRANCISCO - Banks, clothing manufacturers and insurance companies will have to disclose any past connections to the slave trade if they want to do business with the city of San Francisco.The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a slavery era disclosure ordinance Tuesday that gives city contractors nine months to prove under oath that they searched for historical documents that would show ties to the slave trade and the results of that search.“It’s important that this country and San Francisco apologize and are aware of the slavery. We cannot just let it go and assume it didn’t happen,” said Supervisor...

It was only last year that the Bank of America Center, long the dominant building in San Francisco's financial district, was sold to a group of New York investors for an impressive $825 million. Now the 52-story reddish-brown granite tower is said to be going on the market again. This time, the sellers are hoping that the price will reach as high as $1.25 billion. In recent weeks, the feverish residential market has spurred incessant talk about the prospect of a housing bubble. But prices for commercial real estate have also been going through the roof, despite high office-vacancy rates...

The head of Wachovia Corp.'s corporate and investment bank sent employees an e-mail to acknowledge employees' emotions "from anger and hurt to guilt and embarrassment" over a report issued detailing the company's past ties to slavery. "As a white person, I know that I cannot fully appreciate the extent of those feelings, particularly for our African-American teammates. The challenge for all of us, particularly for myself and other whites, is to understand the real issues driving these emotions and appreciate the impact of different life experiences of our colleagues," wrote Steve Cummings in an e-mail sent Thursday, which was obtained...

County Slavery-Accountability Law Fails Supervisors who vote against plan want to focus on future, not what companies did in past By Michelle Maitre, STAFF WRITER Alameda County supervisors narrowly defeated a proposed law Tuesday that would have required companies doing business with the county to disclose whether they ever profited from slavery. The ordinance, authored by Supervisor Keith Carson, failed on a 3-2 vote. Supervisors Gail Steele, Scott Haggerty and Alice Lai-Bitker voted no, with Carson and Supervisor Nate Miley supporting the measure.

Wachovia Corporation's ridiculous apology for its alleged ties to slavery has backfired.Chicago City Council aldermen are vowing to strip from Wachovia a $9.4 million loan to build affordable housing units as punishment for the bank's supposed failure to disclose that its predecessor banks were involved in slave-related business deals. This serves as a warning to other companies that believe they can buy peace with the slave reparations movement. Wachovia thought it would be good for business to cave in to the demands of reparations activists. Now, not only is the company out of a multi-million dollar contract, it has made...

Charles Darwin's former home in Bromley, south-east London, has been nominated as a World Heritage Site. Down House at Downe was Darwin's home for 40 years and where he developed his revolutionary theory of evolution. The property also includes the scientist's experimental garden where he studied plants and animals. Announcing the UK's 2006 nomination, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said: "Darwin was one of the greatest scientists of the modern age." 'Scientific discovery' Darwin moved to Down House in 1842 following his epic round-the-world trip in the 1830s, which included a visit to the Galapagos islands. Darwin completed some of his...

Sometimes the news’ timing is bittersweet. On the heels of a piece I just wrote about modern man and the wrath of God, New Orleans Mayor “Sugar Ray” Nagin chimed in with his own thoughts on the matter. While he seemed to agree with those who attribute Hurricane Katrina to divine retribution, his conception of God’s priorities differs a tad from those of the Pat Robertsons, Jerry Falwells and Hank Irwins of the world. Sugar Ray said, “Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it's destroyed and put stress on this country.”...

The NAACP will target private companies as part of its economic agenda, seeking reparations from corporations with historical ties to slavery and boycotting companies that refuse to participate in its annual business diversity report card. "Absolutely, we will be pursuing reparations from companies that have historical ties to slavery and engaging all parties to come to the table," Dennis C. Hayes, interim president and chief executive officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said yesterday at the group's 96th annual convention here. "Many of the problems we have now including poverty, disparities in health care and...

Preferences on the basis of race, ethnicity, and sex — a.k.a. “affirmative action” — are found principally in three areas: education (notably university admissions), contracting (like minority set-asides), and employment (both public and private). For a variety of reasons, employment preferences — particularly in the private sector — have proved harder to uncover than the others. This is too bad, because sunlight is the best disinfectant: If preferences are exposed, they will often be abandoned, because corporate general counsels know that they can get the company into legal hot-water, no matter how much the politically correct human-resources types push them.It...