Unmasking the Wall Street Giant's Shameful Ties to Slavery and the Fight for Reparations

A History of Exploitation and Denial

the bank's founders were deeply entangled in the slave trade, profiting from the exploitation of enslaved people and perpetuating the systems that maintained it.

The bank's history traces back to the early 19th century, when Alexander Brown, an Irish merchant, established a fortune in the cotton trade. His sons expanded the business across the Atlantic, establishing branches in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Liverpool. Despite claiming on their website that "there is no known instance of slaves being owned by members of the Brown family," research by the LBHRG paints a different picture.

Evidence from books cited by BBH itself, including Sven Beckert's "Empire of Cotton" and Zachary Karabell's "Inside Money," reveals that the Browns owned at least 13 plantations and hundreds of slaves in the 1840s. While some family members expressed reservations about owning plantations, they ultimately held onto them, relying on managers who oversaw slave labor.

Following the LBHRG's accusations of historical revisionism, BBH removed the claim of no slave ownership from their website, acknowledging the "associated slave labor" on the plantations they acquired. However, the bank maintains that the text was intended to provide context rather than obfuscate the truth.

This revelation raises serious questions about BBH's commitment to social justice and its attempts to sanitize its history. As a dominant figure in transatlantic trade and banking, the Brown family's wealth was built on the backs of enslaved people. Their philanthropy, therefore, stands on a foundation of exploitation and suffering.

The LBHRG urges BBH to take responsibility for its past by making a full and honest acknowledgement of its involvement in slavery and launching a program of reparatory justice. This is the least the bank can do to address the legacy of its founders and contribute to a more equitable future.