Two of Britain’s biggest businesses will donate to projects benefiting ethnic minorities after an academic database highlighted their roles in slavery.
Global insurance firm Lloyd’s of London and pub chain Greene King both said they would pay after historical links to slavery were pointed out in a University College London index, The Telegraph reports.
Greene King was founded in 1799 by Benjamin Greene – who was one of 47,000 people who benefited from a policy of compensating slave owners when Britain abolished slavery in 1833.
He received the equivalent of £500,000 in today’s money after giving up his claim to three West Indies plantations.
The UCL database also revealed that founder subscriber member of Lloyd’s of London, Simon Fraser, gave up an estate in Dominica for the equivalent of £400,000 in today’s currency.
A spokesperson apologised for the role the company played by the Lloyd’s market in the 18th and 19th Century slave trades, adding that it was an ‘appalling and shameful period of English history, well as our own’.
Greene King was founded in 1799 by Benjamin Greene – who was one of 47,000 people who benefited from a policy of compensating slave owners when Britain abolished slavery in 1833
The UCL database also revealed that founder subscriber member of Lloyd’s of London, Simon Fraser, gave up an estate in Dominica for the equivalent of £400,000 in today’s currency (pictured: Lloyd’s of London interior)
They committed to giving financial support to ‘charities and organisations promoting opportunity and inclusion for Black and Minority Ethnic groups’.
Lloyd’s added that they would review ‘organisational artefacts’ to make sure they are ‘explicitly non-racist’.
Greene King’s chief executive Nick Mackenzie said the company would update its website – which does not mention its historical ties to slavery – and apologised for the company’s role in the evil and inhumane practice.
He said: ‘It is inexcusable that one of our founders profited from slavery and argued against its abolition in the 1800s. We don’t have all the answers, so that is why we are taking time to listen and learn from all the voices, including our team members and charity partners as we strengthen our diversity and inclusion work.’
Mr Mackenzie said Greene King would make a ‘substantial investment to benefit the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic community and support our race diversity in the business as we increase our focus on targeted work in this area.’
The UCL database highlighted nine British businesses that directly or indirectly benefited from the decision to compensate slave owners.
Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays Bank and HSBC were included in a number found to have benefited from the payments.
In 2009 RBS admitted that people who had been partners or directors of Royal Bank of Scotland Group predecessors ‘may have owned slaves themselves’ or had otherwise been connected to slave practices in the British West Indies.
The revelations come after the UN’s human rights chief urged countries to confront the legacy of slavery and colonialism and make amends for ‘centuries of violence and discrimination’ through reparations.
Addressing an urgent debate on racism and police brutality at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Michelle Bachelet called on countries to examine their pasts and to strive to better understand the scope of continuing ‘systemic discrimination’.
She pointed to the ‘gratuitous brutality’ on display in the killing of George Floyd, 46, who died in Minneapolis on May 25 after a police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
This symbol of ‘systemic racism… has become emblematic of the excessive use of disproportionate force by law enforcement, against people of African descent, against people of colour, and against indigenous peoples and racial and ethnic minorities in many countries across the globe,’ she said.
‘Behind today’s racial violence, systemic racism and discriminatory policing lies the failure to acknowledge and confront the legacy of the slave trade and colonialism,’ she said.
She stressed the need to ‘make amends for centuries of violence and discrimination, including through formal apologies, truth-telling processes, and reparations in various forms.’
Wednesday’s urgent council debate was called in response to Floyd’s killing. His death was caught on amateur video, sparking worldwide demands to address systemic racism in the United States and around the world.
African countries are calling for the council to ask Bachelet and other UN rights experts to investigate racism and policy brutality in the US, but potential support for their draft resolution is unclear.
Those in favour of slavery reparations argue that financial compensation should be made to the descendants of slaves for past injustices and continuing inequality.
The concept remains only hypothetical.
The most prominent demands for reparations have been made in the US and Britain.