CONSUMER PROTECTION STRATEGY AND STARTLING DETAILS ABOUT SLAVERY REVEALED AT SCHOLARS MEETING ON REPARATIONS LAWSUITS

On Thursday, June 26, scholars met in Washington, D.C. at the National Press Club to discuss slavery, its legacy, and the merits of litigation being pursued for reparations from 19 blue-chip corporations. The meeting was entitled: Should Corporate America Pay? During the three hour meeting, largely unknown facts about the law and practice of slavery and its present day effects were discussed in startling detail. In addition, a potent legal strategy utilizing state consumer protection laws was revealed. The quality of the information conveyed suggests that blue chip corporations may face an uphill battle against slave descendants in the 9 lawsuits filed since March 26, 2002.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 3, 2002

CONSUMER PROTECTION STRATEGY AND STARTLING DETAILS ABOUT SLAVERY REVEALED

AT SCHOLARS MEETING ON REPARATIONS LAWSUITS

On Thursday, June 26, scholars met in Washington, D.C. at the National Press Club to discuss slavery, its legacy, and the merits of litigation being pursued for reparations from 19 blue-chip corporations. The meeting was entitled: Should Corporate America Pay? During the three hour meeting, largely unknown facts about the law and practice of slavery and its present day effects were discussed in startling detail. In addition, a potent legal strategy utilizing state consumer protection laws was revealed. The quality of the information conveyed suggests that blue chip corporations may face an uphill battle against slave descendants in the 9 lawsuits filed since March 26, 2002.

The meeting was moderated by Dr. Raymond Winbush, author of Should America Pay? Slavery and the Raging Debate on Reparations. He opened the meeting noting events that took place last week that highlight the very direct connection the nation has to the enslavement of Africans in America. He said, "the Bush White House, on Clarence Thomas' birthday this past Monday, was defeated in it's continuing assault on Affirmative Action via the University of Michigan victory at the Supreme Court".

Dr. Conrad Worrill, National Chair of the National Black United Front and Coordinator and Professor at Northeastern Illinois University Center for Inner City Education, kicked-off the meeting stating that, "the reparations movement is growing in leaps and bounds." He shared his 6 stage categorization of the reparations movement. The first stage was between 1800-1860 with various appeals for compensation from former slaves. The latest stage, 2002-present, is the sixth stage, with lawsuits being filed against blue corporations for reparations. Worrill, who has been instrumental in mobilizing masses to attend court hearings on the case, prefaced his presentation with an announcement of a recent court victory in the pending reparations lawsuits. The Court will allow attorneys to take a deposition of the 90-something-year old female plaintiff (she is uncertain of her age) in the reparations lawsuits who was enslaved in Louisiana for over 12 years. Her name is Emma Marie Clark, and she currently resides in Texas. Ms. Clark was emancipated in 1934 by FBI agents who investigated the dairy plantation where she was being held after they got a tip from a visitor to the site. The agents found her and two other young Black women being held as chattel slaves and released them. Lawyers for Ms. Clark sought an early deposition from her due to her failing health, however, defendants tried to block their request. On June 25, 2003, Judge Norgle, who is presiding over the reparations lawsuits being heard in a Chicago Federal Court, ordered that the deposition take place -- a major victory for the plaintiffs. The deposition is scheduled for July 9, 2003. Ms.Clark's 20th Century enslavement shows that slavery did not end in 1865, rather, the institution and its vestiges continued long after emancipation.

Professor Richard America of Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, discussed the economic basis for reparations. He explained that wealth disparities exist between Blacks and Whites, and the root cause is that: "Whites have wealth and income that should have gone to blacks." Whites are unjustly enriched by this wealth since it does not belong to them and it was gained immorally. His solution to addressing this problem is through reparations being paid, in addition to affirmative action, to recover, "diverted income and wealth." According to America, over the past 15 years, Black economists have addressed the issue of reparations as a solution to recovering wealth and income diverted in various areas of the lives of African Americans -- particularly housing, education and business opportunities. He suggests that the way to pay reparations is to invest in housing, education and business equity, since these were the key things stolen from African Americans due to slavery.

Dr. William Wiecek, the Chester Adgate Congdon Professor of Public Law and Legislation and Professor of history at Syracuse University, addressed the question of whether slavery was ever legitimate in America. To answer this question, he turned to the 1772 case, Somerset v. Stewart, a freedom lawsuit decided in favor of "natural law" in England freeing an enslaved man. Dr. Wiecek cited Chief Justice Mansfield's natural law holding in the case: "The state of slavery is of such a nature that it is incapable of being introduced on any reasons moral or political. But it can be introduced only by positive law. It is so odious that it can only be maintained by positive law." Dr. Wiecek explained that, because the case was decided before the United States was independent from Great Britain, "Somerset became the law of the American colonies". At the time, England had no law establishing slavery. Neither did the colonies. Initially, Somerset was reaffirmed by courts of slave states in successful freedom lawsuits. Subsequently, Somerset or its principles were applied by courts around the nation to free enslaved people up to the 1860's. The fact that slavery was considered a violation of natural law when practiced by defendants will be significant in determining their liability in the reparation lawsuits.

Dr. Joy DeGruy Leary, Assistant Professor at Portland State University's Graduate School of Social Work, discussed Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome, an explanatory theory that she pioneered. She explained that enslaved people suffered from trauma as a result of slavery. According to Dr. DeGruy-Leary, any one of the following actions is recognized in the field of psychology as a factor resulting in trauma: "1. A serious threat of harm to one's life or physical integrity; 2. A threat of harm to one's children, close relatives, or spouse; 3. Loss of one's home or community; 4. Seeing another person killed or injured as a result of accident or physical violence; 5. Learning about a serious threat to a close friend; 5. A relative kidnapped, tortured or killed." Enslaved Africans experienced all of this. Due to the absence of therapy for emancipated Africans post-slavery to address trauma, the disorder was passed down from one generation to the next. The trauma is now exhibited in slave descendants as "adaptive behaviors" that are obstacles to progress in the African American community. Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome may play a role in reparations litigation, for example, to demonstrate the continuing effects of defendants' slave labor practices.

Dr. Ted Kornweibel, of San Diego State University, spoke of the antebellum southern railroads as a microcosm of the complicity of corporate America in the system of enslavement. Out of about 120 railroads in the south, Dr. Kornweibel has documented that 92 of them used enslaved labor to make the railroads. Due to numerous mergers, these early lines are now owned by about 5 companies. "CSX corporation owns 36 lines currently operating that were those antebellum lines using slaves; Norfolk Southern -- 34 lines; Union Pacific -- 12 lines; Canadian National Railroad -- 4 lines," said Dr. Kornweibel. Canadian National lines at issue were purchased from Illinois Central and are located in Mississippi and Louisiana. In addition, Kansas City Southern, an independent railroad company, operates for lines that used slave labor, said Kornweibel. To compile this data, Dr. Kornweibel utilized various sources of information including: corporate annual reports from the antebellum period, a few Southern archives, American Railway Journal, and newspaper ads seeking to hire enslaved laborers. He said, the use of slave labor was essential to building southern railways -- African Americans were the preferred laborers. Overwhelmingly, most of the laborers were men, however, some children, including young girls, were also used. Enslaved laborers did "back-breaking work" constructing railways; provided skilled labor as blacksmiths and carpenters; and performed maintenance and repair of tracks. Women and children performed hard labor with the men, or they cooked for the crews. Enslaved African male and female convicts were included as leased laborers on railroads as early as the 1850's. Dr. Kornweibel says, the labor on railroads was most likely the most physically demanding labor that enslaved Africans were forced to perform, and "there was, on average, greater brutality than in plantation agriculture" due, in part, to a lack of paternalism, since laborers were usually leased by the railroad, rather than owned by them.

Roger Wareham, a lead counsel in the reparations lawsuits from the law firm Thomas Wareham and Richards, explained that 9 lawsuits were filed around the country on behalf of 35 million descendants of enslaved Africans against corporations. The lawsuits have been transferred to one court and are being presided over by Judge Charles R. Norgle in the Northern District Federal Court in Chicago, Illinois. The plaintiffs aim to secure "restitution of the value of their ancestor's slave labor and defendants' unjust enrichment," said Attorney Wareham. He explained that since there was "a collective injury, the recovery must be collective." No checks to individual slave descendants will be sought. Instead a trust fund will be established with funds paid by defendants to address the vestiges of slavery African Americans still suffer under, such as lack of: affordable housing, adequate healthcare, educational opportunities, economic development opportunities, and employment opportunities. Attorney Wareham discussed specific allegations made against corporations in the lawsuits for reparations. Of particular note are consumer protection claims based on false and misleading statements corporate defendants made to the public about their slave labor practices. Several of the 19 corporations being sued either flatly denied a connection to slavery, or understated their roles in the practice. As a result, their consumers who are descendants of enslaved Africans allege that they are victims of consumer fraud, and that the defendants have been unjustly enriched by business they would likely not get if slave descendants and the general public knew the truth about their roles in slavery.

"Along with the largely unknown information shared by these scholars on the truth about slavery, the consumer protection allegations are vital to our case," said Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, lead plaintiff in the lawsuits and Executive Director of the Restitution Study Group, Inc. Critics of the reparations lawsuits have long expressed that the cases would not reach the trial stage because "standing" could not be satisfied since plaintiffs could likely not trace themselves to a particular defendant. Also, critics have expressed that "statues of limitations" could not be satisfied because slavery ended over a century ago. However, Farmer-Paellmann said, "these procedural hurdles can be met since the consumer protection allegations are based on acts committed by defendants within the past year, and our plaintiffs are consumers of these defendant companies." The consumer protection allegations have enhanced the likelihood that defendants will have to go to trial on their slave labor practices.

A recent United States Supreme Court decision supports this possibility. On Thursday, June 26, the Supreme Court dismissed, Nike v. Kasky, a lawsuit filed by Marc Kasky, an anti-globalization activist, against Nike. Nike is accused of making false and misleading statements to the public about its overseas labor practices. The court was examining whether Nike's statements should receive protection from the First Amendment of United States Constitution as political speech, or receive no protection as unprotected commercial speech. In a surprise decision, the Court dismissed the case returning it to state court for trial -- an outcome that Nike had hoped to prevent. "The descendants of enslaved Africans expect to get our day in court on our claims, including our consumer protection claims, just like Mr. Kasky," said Farmer-Paellmann.

The next court ordered status meeting on the reparations lawsuit will take place on July 21, 2003. Supporters of the case are gathering at 8:30am, at the Everett McKinley Dirksen Building, 219 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois, for a rally preceding the 10:00am hearing before Judge Norgle.

Sponsors of the scholars meeting included: Morgan State University, Northeastern Illinois University, National Black United Front, December 12th Movement, Millions for Reparations, National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA), Freedmen Descendants of the 5 Civilized Tribes, Inc. and the Restitution Study Group, Inc.

A video recording of the meeting is available. Please inquire with Deadria Farmer-Paellmann.

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