This Just In... Rich White People Owned Slaves

From CNN/Money,

"Two predecessor banks of Wachovia Corp. (WB) owned slaves before the Civil War, the nation's fourth-largest bank said Wednesday as it made an apology to black Americans."

"We are deeply saddened by these findings," Wachovia Chairman Ken Thompson said in a statement. We apologize to all Americans, and especially to African-Americans and people of African descent."

I have to wonder why Wachovia is apologizing for acts that, though now understood to be morally aberrant and despicable, were commonplace and (unfortunately) legal when they occurred. Thompson, here, is offering contrition and condolences for actions so far removed in space and time from Wachovia that his gesture borders on the absurd.

"John Boyd, the president of National Black Farmers Association, said his group has been picketing and lobbying Wachovia and other banking giants for eight years, urging them to investigate and acknowledge their historical involvement with the slave trade."

Hate to say it, but John Boyd sounds an annoying, misguided prick.

There certainly are individuals who should atone for these wrongdoings, but unfortunately most of these people died MORE THAN A HUNDRED YEARS AGO.

Is Thompson responsible for scouring the historical record and rooting out every entity associated with Wachovia to determine if they were in breach of all of our current laws and mores? Maybe he should be forced to build a fucking time machine and round up the alleged perpetrators and return them for impeachment.

Ooh, and I think I know just the man to help him out.