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American Morning

Plaintiff, Attorney Discuss Slavery Reparations Lawsuit

Aired March 26, 2002 - 08:12   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The big question at this hour, are African-Americans due payment for slavery? Some African-Americans want companies that profited from the abuse of their ancestors to pay the price. Slavery was abolished nearly 150 years ago and for many the tragedy long ago is best left in the past. But this morning in a New York courtroom a federal lawsuit will be filed on behalf of the descendants of all African-American slaves. The suit seeks reparations for unpaid slave labor and a share of profits made from the work of slaves.

So far three companies, Aetna, CSX and Fleet, have been named in the suit, but it is believed that as many as 100 more could be added before it's all over.

And joining us now to talk about her pending lawsuit is plaintiff Diedria Farmer-Paellman, along with her attorney, Roger Wareham. Welcome. Good to see both of you.

ROGER WAREHAM, ATTORNEY: Good morning.

DIEDRIA FARMER-PAELLMAN, PLAINTIFF SLAVE DESCENDENT: Thank you.

ZAHN: What is it that you're really after here?

FARMER-PAELLMAN: I am after corporations taking responsibility for the crimes against humanity that they committed against my ancestors.

ZAHN: Why now?

FARMER-PAELLMAN: Because we have the precedence of the Holocaust cases to show that it is possible, that companies can be held accountable for their former acts.

ZAHN: Let me explain to what some of these companies have said. While no one would appear on camera this morning, we did contact all three of these companies that you will be suing. And here is the statement from Aetna, and we're going to put this up on the screen so our audience can see it now.

"We do not believe a court would permit a lawsuit over events which, however regrettable, occurred hundreds of years ago. These issues in no way reflect Aetna today." Also we have the statement from CSX. They say, "The lawsuit to be filed in federal court against CSX and other companies demanding financial reparations is wholly without merit and should be dismissed. Courtrooms are the wrong setting for this issue."

Fleet declined to comment on this issue.

The corporations have made it abundantly clear how they feel about this. Why should they be held responsible today?

WAREHAM: Because, well, their response is pretty much what we expect. Most people who commit crimes do not willingly confess to them without some pressure. As I said, the court will decide that. Why they should be accountable today is that they are the beneficiaries of a crime, that they are the beneficiaries of monies that were ill gotten, monies that came from stolen labor, that, of profits that came from that. And what, the company that exists today is the product of something that was illegal and they have to be held accountable. A central tenet of law in the United States and of English common law is that where there is a wrong there must be a remedy.

ZAHN: Now, Aetna, or CSX made it quite clear that the courtroom isn't the place to do this. Is there another alternative as far as you're concerned, or is this the only option you think you have?

WAREHAM: Well, I think it's the option that will bring them to consider other options because I think it's very clear, and Diedria will say that discussions with them have not resulted in them willingly providing any sort of remedy for this. So the court is going to be the anvil that will force them to do otherwise. I think one of our other attorneys, Ed Fagen, worked with the Holocaust cases. Eventually having taken them to court there was a settlement reached. So we hope that the threat of a court case will now put them in a position of trying to seriously negotiate and deal with righting a wrong that they have ignored for all these hundreds of years.

ZAHN: Diedria, you had to know when you took this on you were going to be a lightning rod for a lot of criticism. What do you say to the people out there this morning who are saying hey, wait a minute. It is time to move on and all this -- and you know people have said this -- that all this does is promote a culture of victimization.

FARMER-PAELLMAN: I say to them that these are corporations that benefited from stealing people, from stealing labor, from forced breeding, from torture, from committing numerous horrendous acts and there's no reason why they should be able to hold onto assets they acquired through such horrendous acts.

ZAHN: At any point have you felt personally vulnerable because of this stand that you've taken?

FARMER-PAELLMAN: Not at all. This is the truth. It's the truth. WAREHAM: I think also, in addition to what Diedria said, that it was an act that, to a certain extent, happened a while ago, but its affects continue to this day. So it's not as if it's something that happened and ended. The situation of people of African descent in this country in terms of all of the indices of quality of life, that if you compare our life expectancy, infant morality with the white population and you put them on a board, you would swear that you were talking about a developing country and a developed country. So that our situation, we continue to suffer from the vestiges of slavery. So it's not something that has ended and it's just a historical footnote.

ZAHN: So what is your thought to the people who say come on, time to move on?

WAREHAM: My thought, that's really interesting, because that was the position that the United States took in the World Conference Against Racism when this whole issue of the transatlantic slave trade and slavery as a crime against humanity and reparations came up. They said let's be forward looking, let's not be caught up in the past. And my position is I've never known a thief that said let's look at yesterday when I stole your car. Their position is let's look at today when I have a car and do you want a ride? I don't think that there's any way -- so that's an expected response. That's why we have to go to court. If there was some other way of dealing with it and if there had been a serious attempt by these companies to actually provide redress for the wrong they've done, then we wouldn't need to go into court.

ZAHN: Well, we'd love for you to come back and keep us posted. I know this could be a long fight.

But Roger Wareham, thanks for coming in.

WAREHAM: Thank you.

ZAHN: And Diedria Paellman, thank you for your time as well.

FARMER-PAELLMAN: Thank you.

ZAHN: Appreciate it.

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