Georgetown students vote on reparations for descendants of slaves

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April 11 at 19:45

Student activists from Georgetown University are employing to create a repair fund for the descendants of slaves, who would use the registration fee to send a message stating that historical errors do not occur. will not be forgotten – and encourage administrators to act faster for what students call fundamental. moral question.

"We give the example to others, not just at our university, but at all the universities of the country, to save the story," said Shepard Thomas, a Louisiana junior direct descendant of the United States. slaves, whose sale helped save Georgetown from bankruptcy.

Efforts to create a fund – and a proposal vote on campus – appear as racial issues are the subject of fierce debate at the national level, with some Democratic presidential candidates adopting reparations to repair past injustices .

Georgetown is not the only institution fighting its past. In an increasing number of schools, researchers have been working on more aspects of the life of their universities Stories and administrators have recognized the role that their institutions have played in the horrors of slavery and its lasting legacy.

When the 2019 promotion arrived in Georgetown, the university made headlines for recognizing its historic ties to the slave trade and pledging to make amends.

"We saw the university organize all these ceremonies, publish reports, make suggestions, create a show that made people think that something was going to happen," said Karla Leyja, a Houston senior. But over time, she said, the problem seemed to ease: last year, when Leyja mentioned the history of school and the Sale in the nineteenth century of hundreds of people enslaved, she would be greeted by empty looks.

It is this shift from a sense of urgency to a sense of apathy that has driven student activists to action.

And this led to the proposal of the repair fund. Undergraduate students voted on the proposal Thursday, with results expected Friday. The measure is not binding, but if it passes, it will send a strong message. Student activists have said that they I hope that the university board of directors will discuss this issue at its spring meeting.

"As students in an elite institution, we recognize the great privileges that we have been granted and wish to at least partially repay our debts to families whose involuntary sacrifices have made these privileges possible," wrote sponsors in the referendum. "As individuals with moral imagination, we choose to do more than just recognize the past: we decide to change our future."

They proposed a student fresh to start in the fall of 2020 $ 27.20 per semester. It would raise about $ 400,000 in the first year and would increase with inflation. A non-profit organization run by a board of students and descendants would donate money to charities directly benefiting the descendants of slave sales in the 19th century.

"We appreciate the commitment of our students and appreciate that they make their voices heard and contribute to an important national conversation," said Todd Olson, Vice President of Student Affairs in Georgetown, in a written statement. "The community of descendants, the Company of Jesus and Georgetown are working together to reconcile and transform the legacy of slavery."

Georgia Goslee, legal advisor to 200 descendants, said, "We think it's amazing that students are going down that path."

She said that the descendants that she represents are in the hope of a favorable vote that would encourage the university to do more than just talk and study history, "and transfer some of that wealth to the descendants … How Georgetown can continue in good faith to reap the financial benefits on the backs of slaves is incredible. "

In 1838, two priests presiding at Georgetown orchestrated the sale of 272 men, women and children enslaved by Jesuits from Maryland.

The sale of $ 115,000, worth more than $ 3 million today, solved the problem of Jesuit school debt at a critical juncture in its history.

He also divided families and sent many people to Louisiana, where they worked in deplorable conditions in cotton and sugar cane plantations.

This story has been known for decades when students and others have put it forward in recent years. Since 2015, the university offers an official apology, renamed the buildings and gave descendents an advantage in admission matters.

The search continues – the other day, someone discovered an ad for a fugitive slave suspected of being one of the people sold by the Jesuits, said Adam Rothman, a history teacher in Georgetown.

The change is evident in the way people talk about slave ownership and its legacy on campus, said Marcia Chatelain, a associate professor of history and African-American studies and member of the working group on slavery, memory and reconciliation.

But students are eager to see signs that the story will continue to inform the future of the university, she added.

"The Georgetown community is at a pivotal moment," said Rothman, "when the memory of this story could be lost again – could disappear."

While students such as Thomas and many others were asking them to support the referendum on Thursday, while they were distributing pamphlets urging students to vote against the measure.

The opposition was diverse and included a philosophical disagreement that people in the present should bear the burden of past transgressions.

Some felt that the contribution was too small – as a symbolism.

Many were concerned about the proposed student contribution.

In the Hoya, a student newspaper, two student government leaders wrote that students should not have to pay for the failures of the institution.

"Georgetown University alone, not all students, has an obligation to pay for past transgressions," wrote Hayley Grande and Samuel Dubke. They implored students to vote against the referendum, arguing that it would have a negative impact on students from low-income families and could set a dangerous precedent: "We can not ask students to fund all of them. projects that Georgetown does not realize.

During the referendum debate Thursday on campus, Rothman said, "Whatever their party, I really want them to learn the story and absorb it – think about what it means to them."