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February 5, 2007
Taking it to the bank
NY Daily News, Editorial
We're getting used to the fact that the Daily News editorial page has pretty much been turned over to the Ratner PR machine.
Today's editorial takes Barclays letter — the one sent last week to individual journalists and grassroots and media organizations — at face value, and goes on the offensive against many local African American community leaders:
The Barclays Centre defence (hey, when in Britain...):
This amounts to what one historian calls a "game of gotcha." And it turns out the accusations are grossly unfair, if not flat out wrong. The bank said in a statement Friday, "We are ... firm in our belief that the partnership bank on which we were founded did not profit from the slave trade or slavery."
Barclays also pointed out that one of its early partners, David Barclay, was a committed abolitionist and an anti-slavery Quaker. After buying a farm that came with 32 slaves, he freed them all.
As for South Africa, Barclays divested eight years before the end of apartheid and now is a member in good standing of the banking community there.
The Daily News (and Forest City Ratner) offence:
Barclays' accusers fall into two categories. Some belong to the crowd that tried to stop Atlantic Yards. In bad faith, they are throwing rhetorical stones at the bulldozers. Other leaders have said they were genuinely troubled by the bank's past as it had been reported. They undercut their moral outrage by pressing Barclays for charitable contributions.
Atlantic Yards Report "Oderizes" the editorial below.
Posted by lumi at February 5, 2007 8:27 AM