City University drops slave trader’s name

LONDON’S City University has removed the name of Sir John Cass from its business school after complaints that the 18th-century English merchant obtained part of his wealth through the slave trade.

The unanimous decision was taken by the university’s council, who said the use of Sir John’s name was “incompatible with City’s values of diversity and inclusion”.

Sir John was a Tory MP and philanthropist, but was a major figure in the early development of the slave trade and the Atlantic slave economy, directly dealing with slave agents in the African forts and in the Caribbean, according to the BBC.

City renamed their world-leading business school 18 years ago when the Sir John Cass Foundation, a charity founded in 1748 to support access to education, donated £5million.

While due diligence was carried out on the foundation, the university had apparently not appreciated Sir John’s links to slavery. As the Black Lives Matter movement continues to force institutions across the globe to re-examine their historical and current attitudes towards race, Julia Palca, Chair of City’s Council, said: “We acknowledge the great pain and hurt caused to members of our City and Business School community and to many black people by the association of the School’s name with the slave trade.

“Any continued use of Sir John Cass’s name would be seen as condoning someone whose wealth in part derived from the exploitation of slavery.

“This is incompatible with our values of diversity and inclusivity.”