Spring Break
Slavery lawsuit co-chair speaks on reparations
By: LaToya Clement
Staff Reporter">LaToya Clement
Staff Reporter
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Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, a New York slave-trade activist, filed the suit in hopes of seeking reparations for 35 million descendants of African slaves from several companies that have historical links to the slave trade. The lawsuit is the first of its kind. Among the companies being sued are Aetna Inc., FleetBoston Financial Corp. and CSX Corp.
FleetBoston is a leading financial service institution located in Boston, Mass. CSX is a railroad giant responsible for the construction of many U.S. rail lines. Aetna Inc., an insurance company based in Hartford, Conn., has already given over $36 million to the black community, after admitting two years ago it insured slaves for slave owners.
According to the lawsuit, as many as 1,000 unidentified corporations may have also profited from the slave trade in the United States between 1619 and 1865.
The lawsuit also states that “the practice of slavery constituted an immoral and inhumane deprivation of Africans’ life, liberty, African citizenship rights, cultural heritage and it further deprived them of the fruits of their own labor.”
Steven Mulroy, an assistant professor at the Cecil Humphrey’s School of Law at The University of Memphis, said he believes that the lawsuit concerning slave reparations is monumental, but wonders if it will hold up in court.
“Most people who are not informed on the issue may not understand that it is not as ridiculous as it sounds. It is an issue that needs to be seriously looked at,” Mulroy said. “But my personal prediction is that the courts will not treat the lawsuit very well.”
Although Farmer-Paellmann’s lawsuit is the first of its kind, it will not be the last. A group of law experts in Washington is planning to file a similar lawsuit in this fall.
This group of experts includes O.J. Simpson’s attorney, Johnnie Cochran, and Harvard University professors Cornel West and Charles J. Ogletree Jr.
On Tuesday evening, Ogletree, the Jesse Climenko Professor of Law and Faculty Director of Clinical Programs at Harvard University Law School, visited The U of M to give a lecture on the issue of reparations for the descendants of slaves. He commented on the Farmer-Paellmann lawsuit and his involvement in a future reparations lawsuit.
“Well, I’m the co-chair of the Slave Reparations Coordinating Committee, and as we have stated before, we’re going to file a series of lawsuits in the fall of 2002,” said Ogletree.
“This particular lawsuit (the Farmer-Paellmann lawsuit) is filed by a different group of individuals, focusing on the narrow area of private defenders and on a limited number of parties.”
Ogletree said his group plans to target both public and private institutions such as New York Life and J.P. Morgan Chase Manhattan Bank in the lawsuit.
According to Ogletree, his Washington-based group has documented statutes, policies and laws by the U.S. government that explicitly deny African-Americans civil rights based on race.
In his speech, Ogletree said the term ‘reparations’ means “the repair for decades of abuse.” He said he feels the idea of slave reparations dates back to the post-Civil War era, when the United States government promised former slaves all of the resources necessary for their survival.
“Former slaves were released in 1865, and a promise was made. That promise was broken,” Ogletree said.
The United States government has dealt with reparations towards Native Americans, Jewish Americans and Japanese Americans, said Ogletree. But this is the first time that a large reparations lawsuit has dealt with African-American slavery.
Ogletree said he believes that in order for a slave-reparations lawsuit to be completely successful, it must be fully supported by the people.
“We have to fight this battle and fight it in every way that we can. This movement has a life of its own. This movement ultimately will be determined by the people,” Ogletree said.
“I personally don’t need reparations in order to survive tomorrow. But there is a community out there that will not survive unless we make reparations possible.”
Regarding the Farmer-Paellmann lawsuit, Ogletree said he strongly supports the defendants.
“I wish them well and I hope that they have carefully thought about all the arguments. We have been deliberately careful in bringing a legal action, because there are substantial burdens to overcome, important legal issues to raise and careful hurdles to pass,” Ogletree said. “So I hope that they make sure to clearly address all of the reparations issues.”