Lloyd's of London to pay for 'shameful' Atlantic slave trade role

[JudyM]

Source: Reuters

The Lloyd’s of London insurance market has apologised for its “shameful” role in the 18th and 19th Century Atlantic slave trade and pledged to fund opportunities for black and ethnic minority groups. “We are sorry for the role played by the Lloyd’s market in the 18th and 19th Century slave trade - an appalling and shameful period of English history, as well as our own,” Lloyd’s said in a statement on Thursday.

“Recent events have shone a spotlight on the inequality that black people have experienced over many years as a result of systematic and structural racism that has existed in many aspects of society and unleashed difficult conversations that were long overdue,” it added.

...

Lloyd’s grew to dominate the shipping insurance market, a key element of Europe’s global scramble for empire, treasure and slaves, who were usually in the 18th Century included in insurance policies in the general rate for ship cargo. Weapons and gunpowder from Europe were swapped for African slaves who were shipped across the Atlantic to the Americas.
...

Lloyd’s said it would invest in programmes to attract black and minority ethnic talent, review its artefacts to ensure they were not racist and support charities and organisations promoting opportunity for black and minority ethnic people.


Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-protests-lloydsofl/lloyds-of-london-to-pay-for-shameful-atlantic-slave-trade-role-idUSKBN23P0SM

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The awakening is spreading. Whether this is strictly a calculated business decision or genuine executive remorse, it will contribute to the long overdue cultural shift.

[packman]

1. Put those artefacts and documents into a museum

for historical research

[maxsolomon]

2. Huzzah.

Reparations in whatever form are welcome.

[Igel]

3. It continued in the 20th century.

When Lenin shipped political prisoners to eastern Siberia to work in the GULags, it was to Lloyd's of London he turned to.

Socialism may have a renewed patina of acceptability, but early on Lenin enslaved people and sent them to labor camps with a 50% or more death rate per year, and expanding the camps to a capacity that the tsars hadn't considered. Moreover, he insisted on having that valuable human capital insured against loss during transport.