2A
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Thursday, January 29, 2004
Bank mergers targeted by reparations activists
Continued from page 1A
Trenton, N.C., native
Richard Barber, president of
US Reparations, urged the
panel to deny the FleetBofA
merger or approve it on a
contingency pending the out
come of lawsuits against
Fleet.
Sampson said FleetBoston
Financial had in the past
purchased the Providence
Bank of Rhode Island, the
principal financier of Rhode
Island’s notorious John “the
Enslaver” Brown, a major
slave trader who often spoke
before Rhode Island law
makers urging them to real
ize the trade’s economic
potential.
Even though he was prose
cuted in federal court for
slave trading after the U.S.
government made the prac
tice illegal. Brown used his
riches to finance the Ivy
League’s Brown University.
“We recognize any succes
sor in interest to the assets of
[Fleet] is the successor in lia
bilities of the bank,” Rev.
Sampson, who also serves as
the economic commissioner
of N’COBRA (National
Coalition of Blacks for
Reparations in America),
said during his testimony.
“With each day that passes,
another person learns of
Fleet’s ties to slavery and is
outraged and a new law is
passed to serve as ammuni
tion to rectify the injustice.”
Sampson was referring to
the continuing passage of
laws that require companies
to disclose any past ties to
slavery. While Chicago and
California have slavery dis
closure laws on their books.
New York City, Detroit and
Cleveland have disclosure
bills that could soon be
passed. Failure to reveal any
past ties to slavery could
lead to a company’s forfei
ture of a major contract.
Already, in late Nov. 2003,
Lehman Brothers had to
admit its past ties to slavery
in order to keep its bid alive
for a $145 million O’Hare
International Airport bond
issue.
On top of the disclosure
laws, Sampson points out
that the continued organiz
ing of groups such as the
National Black United
Front, the December 12th
Movement, Millions for
Reparations, N’COBRA, the
Reparations Coordinating
Committee, the Nation of
Islam and the Restitution
Study Group (RSG) will
impact any companies who
fail to recogrrize the impor
tance of slavery reparations.
In testifying against the
banks, activists are claiming
that such mergers could hurt
the U.S. as a whole, because
both JPMorgan Chase and
Fleet have outstanding
debts that will have to be
paid, and if such firms
become even bigger banks,
such major debts could crip
ple the economy.
One of the duties of the
Federal Reserve is to, along
with both the Federal Trade
Commission and the Justice
Department, regulate banks
and maintain their stability.
Since the 1960 passage of
the Bank Merger Act, the
Fed has been assigned to
also make sure that any pro
posed bank mergers won’t
distress the banking indus
try or concentrate too much
power within too few or
unstable hands.
Deadria C. Farmer-
Paellmann,
executive
director of
the RSG and
who filed
suit against
FleetBoston,
warned the
Fed that
there were
“dangers [in]
allowing the
merger.”
Recalling
John Brown’s interest in the
Providence Bank, Farmer-
Paelhnann noted, “Just prior
to John Brown’s death, he
prepared an estate inventory
that indicated that Fleet’s
early bank lent him substan
tial sums of money at a time
that he was engaged in the
illegal practice of slave trad
ing.”
She continued: “Through
its earlier bank, FleetBoston
also collected customs fees
due from ships transporting
slaves and earned profits
maintaining bank accounts
of people who acquired their
wealth in the slave trade.
Well over 41,369 Afiicans
were enslaved during the
time that FleetBoston’s early
bank collected customs
duties and fees on ships
engaged in the illegal slave
trade.”
Farmer-PaeUmann said in
an interview that she want
ed the Fed to realize what
activists were warning: that
before such large banks are
created, it would be best for
banks like Fleet to take care
of its debts.
“We’re talking about two of
the largest banking institu
tions in this nation becoming
defendants,” she said.
In recent public state
ments, Fleet has denied any
connection to John “the
Enslaver” Brown. But in a
May 1992 brochure called
“Fleet’s Histoiy” issued by
the bank (when it was
known simply as Fleet
before merging in 1999 with
BankBoston), FleetBoston’s
legacy to John Brown is
lauded: “As early as 1784,
John Brown, one of Rhode
Island’s most respected mer
chants, tried convincing a
group of Providence busi
nessmen of the viability of a
bank of deposit. ...Brown
and a small group of
investors saw endless oppor
tunities on the new frontier.
... In 1791, the Providence
Bank was chartered.
“The Providence Bank
weathered panics and insta
bility to prosper in the
volatile 19th century econo
my, financing the ^owth of
some of America’s leading
Southern primaries a test of electability
Continued from page 1A
As the candidates head to
South Carolina, the Rev. A1
Sharpton, the lone African
American on the ballot,
hopes to consolidate the
minority vote. According to
polls of registered
Democrats, Sharpton is
expected to do well in South
Carolina,
Sharpton
Edwards
where
African
Americans
make up half
the elec
torate and
Sharpton
has cam-
p a i g n e d
extensively.
Despite fin
ishing last in
New
Hampshire
with 305
votes,
Sharpton is
counting on
the South
and its siz
able black
population
to jump-start his campaign.
“As the only remaining
African American in the
presidential race, I pledge to
continue to keep ,Dr. (Martin
Luther) King’s dream alive
by continuing to raise the
issues important to minori
ties nationwide and fighting
for the rights of the disen
franchised,” Sharpton said.
“In the upcoming weeks, I
predict we will see the
minority vote consolidate in
my comer, proving to be a
very strong voice.”
As the primaries swing to
states with heavy minority
populations such as South
Carolina, some observers
surmise Sharpton will make
a large impact as the sole
African American in the
race. A recent nati?nal poll
put Sharpton tied for second
in South Carolina, just 5
points fh)m the lead.
However, Edwards, a
South Carolina native who
finished second in the Iowa
caucuses and third in New
Hampshire, is gaining
momentum. Clark’s militaiy
background a former NATO
commander could become a
factor as well.
Mayor Christopher
Campbell of Eastover S.C.,
and president of the South
Carolina Conference of
Black Mayors endorsed
Edwards, saying, “John
Edwards is the best candi
date to beat George Bush for
the presidency. John
Edwards represents the best
interests of all Americans,
not just the rich.”
Edwards also picked up
endorsements from other
black elected officials includ
ing state senator Maggie
Glover.
In giving Kerry back-to-
back wins, Iowa and New
Hampshire voters have
deemed him to be the most
capable of defeating Bush.
But a tougher test could
come Tuesday, in the South
and West, where the “elec
tability” of a Massachusetts
Democrat seems more in
needs to show he can win in
the South. Edwards needs to
show he can win anywhere.”
Earl Black, a Rice
University political scientist
and an expert on the South,
said Kerry reminds many
Southern voters of a
Dukakis or Sen. Edward M.
Keimedy, D-Mass.
But, he said, Democrats
are also interested in finding
a nominee who can win, and
with a coalition that includes
blacks.
And regardless of how well
Kerry does in South
Carolina, the primary gives
Edwards “an opportunity to
hammer Clark,” perhaps
driving him from the race.
With reporting from The
Associated Press.
question.
After all, the last
Massachusetts Democrat to
run for president was
Michael Diitakis in 1988,
easily defeated by Bush’s
father. And Bush’s GOP sup
porters are wasting no time
in portraying Kerry as a typ
ical Massachusetts liberal.
No Northeastern
Democrat has won the presi
dency since John F. Kennedy
in 1960.
“A win in both Iowa and
New Hampshire is rare. It
shows a strong mandate
from voters,” said Allan
Lichtman, a political scien
tist at American University
in Washington. “But Kerry
now must show he’s strong
enough to win anywhere in
the nation.”
Kerry had not been in
South Carolina since last
September, but was flying
here Wednesday. Clark and
Edwards will already have
been here for hours when he
arrives.
Kerry and Edwards also
had events planned in
Missouri, which is up for
grabs now that Rep. Dick
Gephai'dt of St. Louis is no
longer in the race.
Democratic strategists
generally agreed that strong
Kerry wins in South
Carolina, Missouri and
Arizona could all but clinch
the nomination for him.
Missouri has the most del
egates, 74, up for grabs next
Tuesday, followed by
Arizona’s 72. South Carolina
has 55.
‘'You want to’ win in a state
like Missoiui because it is a
microcosm of the rest of the
nation,” said George Connor,
a political scientist at
Southwest Missouri State
University.
Connor also said “Kerry
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manufacturers.” The name
“Fleet,” the press release
states, was a name chosen to
convey “the image of ships
sailing to the same destina
tion.”
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