Three federal lawsuits seeking unspecified reparations for 35 million descendants of African slaves have been filed in the US.
They are against the Aetna insurance company, the FleetBoston financial services group and transportation group CSX.
The lawsuits also claim that as many as 1,000 unidentified companies may have profited from slavery and helped it continue in America between 1619 and 1865.
Attorney Mr Roger Wareham says any damages would be put into a fund to improve health, education and housing opportunities for blacks. The plaintiffs are seeking class-action status.
"This is not about individuals receiving checks in their mailbox," he said.
Only one plaintiff was identified during a news conference announcing the lawsuits. Ms Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, a recent law school graduate whose great-grandparents were slaves, said she has spent five years researching evidence provided by more than 60 companies with a role in slavery.
The lawsuits claim slavery is a wound that fails to heal, condemning blacks in America to more poverty, unemployment, poor education and clashes with the justice system than other Americans.
"They lag behind whites according to every social yardstick: Literacy, life expectancy, income and education. They are more likely to be murdered and less likely to have a father at home," the papers state.
CSX said the lawsuits had no merit and should be dismissed. A statement said: "Slavery was a tragic chapter in our nation's history. It is a history shared by every American, and its impacts cannot be attributed to any single company or industry." Fleet said it had not seen the lawsuits.
AP