Descendants of American slaves sue Lloyd's of London

[wellard]

Stop the world I want to get off! [img]graemlins/idontagreeatall.gif[/img]

Descendants of black American slaves are to sue Lloyd's of London for insuring ships used in the trade. BBC

"High-profile US lawyer Edward Fagan, who secured settlements from Swiss companies in the Nazi gold case, is taking the action for 10 plaintiffs.

He says by underwriting slave ships in the 1700-1800s the UK's oldest insurance firm played a key role.

The action, which claims defendants still suffer, was lodged on Monday according to Associated Press."


Someone tell me that this is an early April fools joke

[john]

The fool would be any judge who would allow this crap to make it to court!

[johnny]

Could be true, i've heard similar things of people wanting to sue the Dutch state or the royal family or something like that, for being involved in slavery. There's always creative people who think they can make some fast cash in an unconventional way like this. Matter of fact, i'm thinking of suing the French government myself. I'm extremely traumatised because of what Napoleon's occupation forces did to my ancestors. I was thinking 200.000.000 € would ease the suffering at least a little.

[wellard]

Beam me up Scotty it's getting worse

FleetBoston Financial and RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company are also getting sued

ABC news

Ten descendents of Africans who were shipped to the United States as slaves have filed a lawsuit seeking at least $US2 billion from two US companies and a British insurance giant accused of having profited from the slave trade.

The plaintiffs, whose ancestors were from Sierra Leone, Niger and Ghana, accuse Lloyds of London of having insured shipments of Africans to the US before slavery was abolished in 1860.

FleetBoston Financial is accused of financing the operation and RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company of buying the slaves to work on its tobacco fields.

"We are suing them for genocide," Edward Fagan said, the plaintiffs' attorney.

"They basically sought to destroy the communities, the people, the language, the culture of persons that were to become slaves."

The attorney is well known for taking controversial cases.

Lloyd's is the world's biggest insurance market while RJ Reynolds is the United States' second-largest tobacco maker. FleetBoston is one of the biggest banks in the United States.

The three companies have not publicly commented on the case.

The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court of the Southern District of New York.


What next? sue the Pope for the 'wrongs' of christianity over the years! [img]graemlins/1ponder.gif[/img] Maybe Austrailians can sue the British for sending them down to this paradise prison camp in the south pacific? the trauma of a south pacific cruise and living in warm weather near a beach must have been hell!

Get me a phone I wanna sue someone

[The Hierophant]

Originally posted by wellard: Maybe Austrailians can sue the British for sending them down to this paradise prison camp in the south pacific? the trauma of a south pacific cruise and living in warm weather near a beach must have been hell! Get me a phone I wanna sue someone

Well, not to go off on tangent here, but I think the living standards of metropolitan Australia in 2004 are just a LITTLE bit different to those in penal-colony Australia in 1788... yes, it would've have been closer to hell than heaven

[ 03-30-2004, 12:11 AM: Message edited by: The Hierophant ]

[Azred]

Originally posted by wellard: Someone tell me that this is an early April fools joke

Oh, no, this is quite serious. This sort of topic comes up every now and then, because people can't grow up and get over it! Slavery in America was offically abolished about 140 years ago, but this sort of thing continues because enough people still feel guilty about it. Fortunately, I am not one of those people--I didn't do it, so I refuse to feel guilty about it.
If these people are serious about receiving reparations for what their ancestors suffered, are they going to sue the descendants of the tribes in Africa who originally captured their [the suers'] ancestors and sold them to European slave traders?

I have a news flash for anyone who, for whatever reason, is still suffering mental anguish because their ancestor was forced into slavery--money alone will never heal that particular wound. These people have a victim complex.

[johnny]

Well, i'd sure like to see them call their whitnesses to the stand.

[Stratos]

Can really people sue someone for what happened to their ancestors, and which countries laws applies?

[wellard]

Originally posted by The Hierophant: quote: Originally posted by wellard: Maybe Austrailians can sue the British for sending them down to this paradise prison camp in the south pacific? the trauma of a south pacific cruise and living in warm weather near a beach must have been hell! Get me a phone I wanna sue someone

Well, not to go off on tangent here, but I think the living standards of metropolitan Australia in 2004 are just a LITTLE bit different to those in penal-colony Australia in 1788... yes, it would've have been closer to hell than heaven [/QUOTE]I know you boofhead [img]graemlins/troutslap.gif[/img] I was struggling to find things that the Aussies could sue for. Mental anguish for not returning the ashes maybe? [img]graemlins/heee.gif[/img]


I've visited Port Arthur down in Tassie and seen the solitary confinement cells and the isle of the dead; they are still scary places.

[johnny]

Originally posted by Stratos: Can really people sue someone for what happened to their ancestors, and which countries laws applies?

Not in the Netherlands, i'm pretty sure of that. And should a US court take this into serious consideration, they'd be making a complete mockery of themselves. Not that they never did that before mind you.