Massachusetts Democrats are pushing a bill that would require companies doing business with the state to detail historical connections to the slave tradegoing back almost 400 years.
The sponsors claim that the aim is “to create a historical record of the economic impact slavery had on the state” and the law would require the Secretary of State to research and publish a history of the slave trade in Massachusetts. We have perhaps the highest density of higher education academics in the world in Boston. Isn’t this something that is best dealt with in the private sector rather by taxpayer-funded departments with better things to do presumably?
Of course, the bill’s proponents claims that the law “would not require companies to pay restitution for any profits reaped from the slave trade or prevent corporations that have connections to slavery from winning state contracts.”
Well, not yet anyway. Wait until they have that full accounting researched and published by the Secretary of State.
Will they be satisfied when there are no businesses left in Massachusetts because it’s just plain less bothersome to do business elsewhere?
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