Desolation
I recently read about a march of white supremacists in Columbus, Ohio. About twelve members of this hate group carried black flags with red swastikas in broad daylight. They chanted racist slogans as they marched through Columbus. This follows similar public marches of white supremacist groups in Nashville, Boston and Washington, DC. These public displays of hate are horrifying. Reading about this march was painful. Knowing that these groups are intentionally sowing hate troubles me deeply. I prayed with my class for racial reconciliation and for the conversion of the marchers who are rejecting the fundamental belief that we are all created in God’s image and likeness.
Consolation
My students recently participated in a different kind of march. We gathered at Freedom House in Alexandria, VA. This was the former site of the Franklin & Armfield slave offices and slave pens. A young enslaved person named Gabriel Dorsey was taken there after being sold by the Jesuits for $450 in June, 1829. Gabriel had previously been enslaved at the Washington Seminary, Gonzaga College High School’s founding institution. My students went to Freedom House to honor Gabriel and the other enslaved persons whose stolen labor helped build Gonzaga High School. We followed Gabriel’s steps as he was taken from the slave pen and put on a ship that would send him to New Orleans. We walked in silence and imagined what the final walk was like for Gabriel. This was a walk of reckoning and healing. We were accompanied by several Descendants of the people the Jesuits once owned and sold. Listening to their stories was deeply moving.
At the Potomac River waterfront we gathered and read the names of each of the 34 enslaved persons who were put on the ship with Gabriel. After each name was read the students responded, “We remember.” We concluded with a prayer written by a student, “We pray for the families of those whose lives were a never ending cycle of torture, who were born into a life where freedom would never be attainable. Let us be messengers of truth, give us the courage Jesus gave his disciples, and spread the word, as now we are an institution who fights for the rights of those who are voiceless and stand in solidarity with one another.”
Read more about the journey of understanding undertaken by members of the Gonzaga College High School community: “Searching for truth in the garden: Gonzaga’s history with slavery.”
This month’s reflection was provided by Ed Donnellan, from Gonzaga College High School in Washington, DC. If you would like to volunteer to provide an upcoming reflection, please contact Nick Napolitano: ueajars@jesuits.org.
The views and opinions expressed in this reflection do not necessarily reflect those of Jesuits USA East.
