Company Apologizes for Slavery-Era Activities

O-K now, any one who has read my threads previously understands that my company has been making cutbacks left and right. So look where the company’s money is going to…”We recently completed extensive research examining our company’s history for any links to slavery …. Two predecessors -- Citizens Bank and Canal Bank in Louisiana -- served as banks to plantations from the 1830s until the Civil War, accepted enslaved individuals as collateral on loans, and sometimes took ownership of them when the plantation owners defaulted on the loans.

Today, we are announcing an additional philanthropic initiative that reflects our commitment to both acknowledge the past and improve the future. The program, Smart Start Louisiana, will mirror a similar initiative in New York City. The firm will provide an initial $5 million over five years for full tuition, undergraduate scholarships to African-American students from Louisiana to attend colleges in their home state. Smart Start Louisiana will select scholars based upon merit and need. In addition, the students will have the opportunity to intern at the firm during the summer with the goal of being hired upon graduation.

Now I am the first that helps out in volunteer programs and I understand that slavery was a huge issue, but wasn’t that about 150 years ago? Is it really necessary for a company to spend lots of money on researching that a couple of small divisions that it bought after slavery occurred was involved in this 150 years ago?