Lawyer Deadria Farmer-Paellmann spearheaded a case in 2000 against corporations that profited off of slavery. She and others made a list of U.S. companies they say profited from the crime of slavery.
“I made a call to Aetna Inc. and I asked them for copies of slave policies,” she told ABC News in 2006. “They were very happy to send a couple of policies. Not only did they send the policies, though. They sent copies of circulars that other companies used to advertise their slave policies. And when I got the package, I just cried, you know. I was just really very moved by the whole thing — that a major corporation that we know and use today played a role in this practice.”
She added: “The slave policies actually financed the enslavement of Africans. So, an individual who might be uncertain about investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in the purchasing of humans might get the go-ahead from Aetna. You know: ‘Go ahead, buy that person. If they die, we’ve got you covered. You can buy another one.’”
