One of CRIN’s funders - the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) - recently published a statement revealing that its wealth has roots in slavery, colonialism and white supremacy. We reflect on the Trust’s approach to its history, and what it can offer to others who benefit from philanthropic wealth.

The Trust investigated the history of the Rowntree Company, which provided its wealth - a move precipitated by wider anti-racist and decolonising movements, especially Black Lives Matter. In its statement, JRCT:

• acknowledges the harm that was caused in the acquisition of its wealth, that the Rowntree Company purchased goods produced by enslaved people, that the company benefitted from the system of colonial indenture (unfree labour), and that its South African subsidiary company used oppressive and exploitative practices during the apartheid era.

• apologises both for the harm caused and for not taking these steps earlier.

• takes responsibility for addressing the harm caused by taking immediate action to strengthen the Trust’s commitment to racial justice in their grantmaking, investments and staff diversity, and through a longer-term process of restorative justice involving communities affected by the harm.

It is disconcerting to find out that JRCT’s resources - and, in turn, some of CRIN’s resources too - were acquired in a way that is at odds with both our organisations’ values and purpose. But we also appreciate the way in which the Trust has gone about reckoning with its history. 

One of the guiding principles set out in the CRIN Code is ‘Accountability, not apology’, explaining that while apologies can be an important part of accepting responsibility for harm, they alone are not enough. Holding ourselves accountable means being transparent about wrongs rather than seeking to cover them up, prioritising our values and purpose above the image of our organisation, and taking action. 

We believe JRCT has shown how this principle can be put into practice: by actively seeking to understand their links to systems of injustice and oppression, by sharing this information openly, and by committing to learning from the past and addressing its effects in the present. 

Because JRCT’s history will be far from unique, we hope that other funders - and indeed grantee organisations - will be encouraged to investigate and reflect on the sources of the wealth that enables them to work for, or support, social change. This is certainly something we want to do in CRIN. Our economic and social structures, historically and in the present, have allowed people to profit from the destruction of the natural environment and the exploitation of people marginalised by race, gender and class. Much present wealth will have links, whether direct or indirect, to systems of injustice and oppression, and philanthropic wealth is no exception.

Even those of us who want to dismantle these systems must remember that we do not stand outside of them, and so we must make efforts to understand our place in them and to ask how that should change our work. We support our funder in committing to this important work.

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