Word: citibank
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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That is how some Harvard administrators reacted when they learned students were displeased with the University's unpublicized sale of $50 million in Citibank notes and deposits, a sale made because the New York bank extended a multi-million dollar line of credit to the South African government...
...face, the surprise of administrators seems sensible. After all, students angrily demanded Harvard divest stocks and bank holdings connected to South Africa. And the Citibank sale was the biggest single transaction resulting from their protests...
After all, the problem is not so much that Harvard invests in South Africa. Someone else bought the Citibank holdings, and the Botha regime stays in power. The real issure is that Harvard's holdings give it a chance to affect the existence of apartheid rule through pressure and publicity...
...glad Harvard lived up to its word and sold the Citibank holdings; we reiterate, however, our support for immediate and total divestiture of all investments linked in any way to that country. And we hope that next time Harvard will take a truly moral stand and make their sales out in the open where they can do some good...
...three years and $50 million later, the question of what selling the Citibank stock--or divestiture--actually symbolizes still remains. Perhaps it was a moral gesture on the part of the Corporation or perhaps a response to political pressure exerted by the students of several years ago. But, it means no benefit for the Blacks of South Africa and no real sacrifice for the students at Harvard who have fought so hard for divestiture. And South frica is only the tip of the iceberg of sys tematic injustice that oppresses and impoverishes people throughout the word, while preserving the ungodly...