By the time Andrew Jackson Hurdle penned his life story in 1919, the former slave had become an ordained minister, helped found a religious college and referred to himself as a "self-made man."
But Hurdle, who had been born into bondage on a North Carolina plantation nearly 70 years earlier, also recounted the horror of slavery. When he was 9, Hurdle, the youngest of six children, was put on the auction block and forced to leave his family behind as he followed a new owner to toil on a Texas farm.
To seek justice for her father, Hurdle's youngest daughter, Hannah Hurdle-Toomey, 71, of Belleville, Ill., signed on as one of two people from Illinois named in a class-action lawsuit seeking reparations from 19 blue-chip companies that they say benefited from the slave trade. A U.S. District Court judge in Chicago may decide this month if the suit can continue.
The suit names companies like the Lehman Brothers brokerage firm, Aetna Insurance and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco. It could be dismissed Jan. 26 if Judge Charles Norgle agrees with the defendants' claim that the plaintiffs can't sue for something that happened to their ancestors.
Even if the suit is dismissed, the reparation debate will be far from over. But if the plaintiffs prevail, they said they will use the money to set up a trust fund to help the African-American community support social programs, said Lionel Jean-Baptiste, the lawyer representing the two women from Illinois. The community still suffers the effects of more than two centuries of slavery, he said.
The suit could mean more than a trillion dollars, experts said.
"It's not about individuals, it's about a broad community seeking capital to rebuild our community," Jean-Baptiste said recently after a meeting with dozens of supporters of the suit. "We need a Marshall Plan to help our community. This is a collective remedy."
| There's more of Carlos Sadovi's Chicago Tribune (via Centre Daily) article "Slaves' descendants seek landmark day in Chicago court"
posted in articles on January 7, 2004 1:23 PM | t (0)
« Previous phile: He was the white guy who spoke to me.
» Next phile: Is a person who swings between voting and not voting.
Return to top of page