Slave Traders

Mayor Daley signed a deal with Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley now has a 99 year contract to run a parking garage in Chicago. This has been in the works for some time and the mayor is excited to put this facility in private hands to manage. There's one catch. Morgan Stanley is a fairly old company that at one time profited from the slave trade. The city of Chicago has an ordinance that restricts its business with companies that benefitted from the slave trade. Mayor Daley is responding by doing what Mayor Daley does best: ignoring the problem and doing what he wants. (Addendum 1: I heart Mayor Daley)
Personally, I think this is ridiculous. Here's why:

1) Usually when companies are punished the intent is to correct behavior. Liquor licenses are suspended until strict ID policies are enforced, restaurants are closed until they get rid of rats, etc. In this case, there is no way for a company to correct past behavior. The result is that current employees are punished for actions they weren't responsible for and can't correct.

2) While I don't work for Morgan Stanley's HR department and I don't know the backgrounds of all their employees, I will assume that there are at least some African Americans that work for the company, and it seems pretty sick to punish these people for having "benefited from the slave trade". (Addendum 1: we might also consider the many African-American shareholders of these companies that will also be punished for "benefitting from slavery".)

3) Perpetual censorship for slavery is not about justice, it's about bitterness. There's a lot to be bitter about, but the past cannot be undone and the resentment can never be soothed. It seems to me that the only effect of these policies and ordinances is to perpetuate a cycle of hate. Considering the lawbreakers are all dead, the only One that can deliver justice is the Lord, which is appropriate since He is the only One entitled to vengeance.

Addendum 1:

4) For several hundred years slavery was legal. The slave trade was made illegal, and then ultimately slavery was made illegal. There should be a clear distinction between companies that benefited from slavery, and companies that benefited from illegal slavery. I have never heard anyone make this distinction, but it is important to consider that most companies that benefited from slavery did so within the boundaries of the law. If the benefits from slavery were not illegal, how can we take legal action against them? If you want the American legal system to deliver divine justice... well, it's not going to happen.