Tyrone N. Butts
APE Reporter
Tillman: Bank 'lying' when it denies past ties to slavery
The City Council's champion for slave reparations accused J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. on Friday of "lying" in a sworn affidavit about its past ties to slavery and demanded the company be barred from doing business with the city.
Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd) said the company, which wants federal regulators to approve its planned merger with Bank One Corp., "began on the backs of slavery" in the cotton business and was transformed into a banking empire.
"The disclosure doesn't j
st say [slave] insurance. It says any dealings with slavery. And they lied. They said, 'No.' There's no way they can search their records and not see it. It's impossible," Tillman said.
After presiding at a two-hour hearing on J.P. Morgan Chase's past ties to slavery, Finance Committee
Chairman Edward M. Burke (14th) came away with a different impression.
The disclosure statements were filed in connection with two major bond deals involving J.P. Morgan Chase, one at O'Hare Airport in October 2003, the other at the Chicago Skyway before that.
"The ball is in Ald. Tillman's court. If she's got the goods, it's up to her to bring them forward," Burke said.
At Friday's hearing, J.P. Morgan Chase was represented by Executive Vice President Frederick Hill, an African American.
Hill said an exhaustive search that spanned two continents, three countries, eight states and 25 state historical societies found "no evi
dence" to suggest the company or any of its predecessors issued or benefitted from slave insurance.
But if the City Council wants J.P. Morgan Chase to dig deeper, the company would be more t
han willing
to do so.
"We're all about getting to the truth. We want to know what the truth was. . . . We'd be happy to broaden the scope and get back to you w
ith any findings," Hill said.
In October 2002, Chicago became the first city in the nation to issue a "moral and ethical challenge" to the companies with whom it does business: Come clean about past ties to slavery or get off the governmental gravy train.
Thousands of disclosure forms have been filed, but so far only one company has admitted past ties to slavery: Lehman Brothers, a financial services firm that employs Mayor Daley's handpicked CTA Board chairwoman, Carole Brown.
It was filed by Lehman Brothers in connection with the firm's role as co-senior manager of a $145 mil
lion O'Hare Airport bond issue used to retire old debt and finance a handful of capital projects.
Also Friday, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn urged the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to hold more h
earings on the prop
osed merger of J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank One.
He asked the Fed to extend the public comment period beyond March 15 and raised concerns about how the merged banks would lend to Illinoisans.
n**********
Do not do business with the city of Chicago. These n-ggers are nutz.
T.N.B.
The City Council's champion for slave reparations accused J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. on Friday of "lying" in a sworn affidavit about its past ties to slavery and demanded the company be barred from doing business with the city.
Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd) said the company, which wants federal regulators to approve its planned merger with Bank One Corp., "began on the backs of slavery" in the cotton business and was transformed into a banking empire.
"The disclosure doesn't j
st say [slave] insurance. It says any dealings with slavery. And they lied. They said, 'No.' There's no way they can search their records and not see it. It's impossible," Tillman said.
After presiding at a two-hour hearing on J.P. Morgan Chase's past ties to slavery, Finance Committee
Chairman Edward M. Burke (14th) came away with a different impression.
The disclosure statements were filed in connection with two major bond deals involving J.P. Morgan Chase, one at O'Hare Airport in October 2003, the other at the Chicago Skyway before that.
"The ball is in Ald. Tillman's court. If she's got the goods, it's up to her to bring them forward," Burke said.
At Friday's hearing, J.P. Morgan Chase was represented by Executive Vice President Frederick Hill, an African American.
Hill said an exhaustive search that spanned two continents, three countries, eight states and 25 state historical societies found "no evi
dence" to suggest the company or any of its predecessors issued or benefitted from slave insurance.
But if the City Council wants J.P. Morgan Chase to dig deeper, the company would be more t
han willing
to do so.
"We're all about getting to the truth. We want to know what the truth was. . . . We'd be happy to broaden the scope and get back to you w
ith any findings," Hill said.
In October 2002, Chicago became the first city in the nation to issue a "moral and ethical challenge" to the companies with whom it does business: Come clean about past ties to slavery or get off the governmental gravy train.
Thousands of disclosure forms have been filed, but so far only one company has admitted past ties to slavery: Lehman Brothers, a financial services firm that employs Mayor Daley's handpicked CTA Board chairwoman, Carole Brown.
It was filed by Lehman Brothers in connection with the firm's role as co-senior manager of a $145 mil
lion O'Hare Airport bond issue used to retire old debt and finance a handful of capital projects.
Also Friday, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn urged the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to hold more h
earings on the prop
osed merger of J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank One.
He asked the Fed to extend the public comment period beyond March 15 and raised concerns about how the merged banks would lend to Illinoisans.
n**********
Do not do business with the city of Chicago. These n-ggers are nutz.
T.N.B.