Posted on 06/22/2005 3:40:40 AM PDT by Alia
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 itself a fat new target for lawsuits and shakedowns.
The Council's plan to remove Wachovia from the contract was in response to a report the bank released on June 1 in which it disclosed that a total of two banks, out of the 400 acquired or absorbed by Wachovia since 1781, had some ties to slavery. The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company owned 162 slaves and the Bank of Charleston accepted 529 slaves as collateral on loans. In a statement accompanying the report, Wachovia CEO Kenneth Thompson said, "We apologize to all Americans, and especially to African-Americans and people of African descent."
But this did not mollify Chicago politicians. Aldermen charge that Wachovia lied when it filed an affidavit in January initially stating it had no slavery ties. Said Alderman Ed Smith, "People must pay the price for lying and knowing that they're lying.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
IMO this is nothing short of extortion on the part of these Chicago politicians.
"People must pay the price for lying and knowing that they're lying."
Alderman Ed Smith was arrested on the spot.
You are right.
What a con-game, no? 2 out of 400 companies through business connected with Wachovia.. and.. the con is on.
that's what ya get for wanting to do business in corrupt cities like Chicago, Detroit, Jersey City, New Orleans etc. A smart business would stay as far away as possible.
For how long should current generation bear the sin of the past?
Until it has been bled whiter.
For as long as hucksters can squeeze money out of the con, and people permit it to happen.
What a frickin' con game. Probably wouldn't be too difficult a task to find ancestors of many in the reparations movement who also owned slaves. I once read that somrthing like a quarter of all freedmen in New Orleans owned slaves.
How Wachovia or anyone else thought that the bank bears any responsibility for what a yet unacquired company did 150-200 years ago is beyond the comprehension of a reasoning mind. This is piracy and race pimping, pure and simple.
Disgusting behavior on everyone's part in this fiasco.
Good! Let this serve as a lesson to other corporations.
"Calling Jesse Jackass, please pick up the red courtsey phone."
Too bad that Johnny Cockroach died, this is a made for him kind of a deal.
Corporations, in particular, tend to fall for the "diversity scam" games and because they don't wish the bad press. Recall, how many on the left do these "anti-corporation, evil corporation" protests, etc. It's a pincer move. Some companies fall into the pincer. They need to repel the pincer, but often they don't and because they fall for the "velvet" approach of hucksters, and don't see the warmed fist hiding behind the huckster.
The Bank came out major winners, on multiple fronts. But most especially with the public.
One of the worst corporate cultures I ever ran across.
IMHO, the worst that happens to them is not enough.
All it takes is a little backbone.
Too funny. A $9.4 million dollar loan agreement nets Wachovia what...4 or 5 percent? $470,000 of "potential" income. Wachovia will barely register the impact. Probably gets lost in the "rounding" on their financials.
Meanwhile, the city must now shop for another bank to front them $9.4 million dollars for a less than desirable investment. Who is punishing who?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.