LONDON: The Lloyd’s of London insurance market has apologised for its “shameful” role in the 18th and 19th century Atlantic slave trade and has agreed to fund charities and organisations promoting opportunities for black and ethnic minority groups.
“Recent events have shone a spotlight on the inequality that black people have experienced over many years as a result of systematic and structural racism that has existed in many aspects of society and unleashed difficult conversations that were long overdue.” Lloyd’s said it would invest in programmes to attract black and minority ethnic talent, review its organisation’s artefacts to ensure they were not racist and provide financial support to charities and organisations promoting opportunity for black and minority ethnic people.
A sweeping global reassessment of history and racism has been triggered by the May 25 death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes while detaining him.