Cheryllyn Branche, vice president of the GU272 Descendants Association, speaks at a listening session Dec. 9, 2017 for descendants of 272 enslaved persons the Jesuits of Georgetown University sold to a Louisiana plantation owner in 1838. At left is Jesuit Fr. Tim Kesicki, president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, and at right is Jesuit Fr. Bob Hussey, provincial of the Jesuits Maryland Province. (CNS/Clarion Herald/Peter Finney Jr.)
Washington The Jesuit order is pledging to raise $100 million for descendants of enslaved people once owned and sold by their order as a way to make reparations and also help the nation move toward racial healing.
Jesuits pledge $100 million to benefit descendants of enslaved people catholicphilly.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from catholicphilly.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Georgetown University
Date Published: March 15, 2021 Share
With the ongoing support and active participation of Georgetown, the Jesuits and Descendants of the 272 enslaved individuals sold in 1838 by the Maryland Province of Jesuits have established a new charitable foundation focused on racial healing and educational advancement.
The Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation will take a leading role in addressing the legacies of enslavement in the United States and its impact on families and communities today.
“The Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation represents an extraordinary vision of racial healing and transformation,” says President John J. DeGioia. “At Georgetown, and across higher education, we share a vital role in supporting the vision of this Foundation.”
Jesuits pledge $100 million to benefit descendants of enslaved people it sold msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Tear down your monuments to enslavement, Georgetown
This editorial is Part One of a four-part series in honor of Black History Month where the editorial board discusses ways in which Georgetown must atone for its history of racism and change the culture of the university when it comes to race. For more, see Part Two and Part Three.
Despite repeated calls for reform and reparations, Georgetown maintains monuments to its long history of participation and complicity in enslavement. This alone makes it irrefutable that Georgetown continues to be deficient in basic human morality. As members of a community that actively benefits from the privileges Georgetown offers, the Georgetown student body must reckon with the wicked burden of the university’s past sins. This begins with tearing down the monuments the university continues to center names, statues, and symbols alike.