Roots

'On September 27th in a federal courthouse in Chicago an appellate panel will hear argument in the first case that seeks to hold major American financial institutions liable for their role in financing, underwriting and profiting from slavery in the United States.'

This article goes on to say - 'this recent lawsuit marks a new departure in the battle for reparations. Rather than seek to hold the government responsible for the general historic wrongs of slavery, this litigation targets the companies that specifically profited – often illegally – from slavery. The plaintiffs are descendants of slaves upon whom these financial institutions profited.'

Among the financial institutions in the dock are : JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Brown Brothers Harriman.

I am reminded of another people, who underwent a similar experience of uprooting..and transplantation as the Africans the article refers to - indentured Indian labourers in the Caribbean and elsewhere. In fact, the two histories are connected. This article says - 'the origins of what came to be known as the system of indentured labor owed everything to the abolition of slavery in 1838.' and it goes on to point out that the means employed to lure Indian labourers to plantations several continents away were..as unsavoury as those employed to trick Africans into slavery.

And I am also reminded of the lower castes in India. And of their inability to rise above their roots. And of the people who are still profiting from their misery.