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>”Harvard faculty and staff enslaved 70 people, and directly benefited from slavery through donors after that: https://legacyofslavery.harvard.edu/report/introd

>”Harvard faculty and staff enslaved 70 people, and directly benefited from slavery through donors after that: https://legacyofslavery.harvard.edu/report/introduction-and- https://legacyofslavery.harvard.edu/report/introduction-and-.... $100 million is probably a drop in the bucket compared to how much of their endowment is directly traceable to donations from slave owners or those involved in the slave trade.” I think this number is extraordinarily difficult to calculate but $100 million does not seem like a drop in the bucket number in this case. It is my understanding that the majority of the $50 something billion endowment was only gained in the last 100 years and a substantial portion of it is due to patents and shares in companies rather than from compounding interest on legacy funds or investments. Ben Franklin set up a trust fund using the equivalent of $125,000 in todays dollars and after 200 years it was worth a relatively measly 2 million dollars. My takeaway from this is that even compounding interest on investments or gains made during the era of chattel slavery in the United States do not seem to be worth nearly as much as modern day investments and valuations. Not that these should be dismissed, though. But even a modest tiny investment in some startup could end up being worth far more to Harvard’s endowment.

rayiner 4y ago
If someone makes a $100,000 investment in your early stage company, do they expect to get compound interest, or equity? Harvard wouldn’t be Harvard—and wouldn’t be in the position to be getting those patents—without those early donations from slavers. Regardless, my other point is that Harvard’s introspection is at least closer to the mark than similar efforts, which lump people like Harvard trustees with poor people in Appalachia—under the umbrella of “whiteness”—as common beneficiaries of slavery. Whatever the dollar value of slavery’s legacy, it’s preposterous to act like it inured to all white people in any meaningful way—which is how it’s typically framed.
- BuyMyBitcoins 4y ago
  I think the biggest challenge is that we are dealing with a kind of butterfly effect justification. I suppose it is true that every aspect of our current society and economy is descended in some way to slavery. Everything is necessarily interconnected and a product of historical events and you can always draw a connection if that is your goal. The challenge is, of course, trying to figure out just how much of an impact. What I was getting at with my earlier post is that it seems like the majority of Harvard’s wealth is recent rather than longstanding. And, if someone is looking at this through the lens of historical wealth that was gained directly from the activity of slavery, $100 million seems to be reasonable rather than not nearly enough of the total $50+ billion.

rayiner 4y ago

If someone makes a $100,000 investment in your early stage company, do they expect to get compound interest, or equity? Harvard wouldn’t be Harvard—and wouldn’t be in the position to be getting those patents—without those early donations from slavers. Regardless, my other point is that Harvard’s introspection is at least closer to the mark than similar efforts, which lump people like Harvard trustees with poor people in Appalachia—under the umbrella of “whiteness”—as common beneficiaries of slavery. Whatever the dollar value of slavery’s legacy, it’s preposterous to act like it inured to all white people in any meaningful way—which is how it’s typically framed.

BuyMyBitcoins 4y ago
I think the biggest challenge is that we are dealing with a kind of butterfly effect justification. I suppose it is true that every aspect of our current society and economy is descended in some way to slavery. Everything is necessarily interconnected and a product of historical events and you can always draw a connection if that is your goal. The challenge is, of course, trying to figure out just how much of an impact. What I was getting at with my earlier post is that it seems like the majority of Harvard’s wealth is recent rather than longstanding. And, if someone is looking at this through the lens of historical wealth that was gained directly from the activity of slavery, $100 million seems to be reasonable rather than not nearly enough of the total $50+ billion.