Black Catholics' history: Will US Catholic schools teach it?
NEW YORK (AP) — The history of Black Catholics in the U.S. is a dramatic mix of struggles and breakthroughs, but it has been largely ignored in the curriculum of Catholic schools. That may soon change.
Amid the national tumult over racial injustice, there are high-level calls for the schools to teach more about the church’s past links to slavery and segregation, and how Black Catholics persevered nonetheless.
In the archdioceses of Chicago and New Orleans, top leaders are encouraging their schools to place a new emphasis on teaching about racial justice, as well as the history of Black Catholics. The National Catholic Educational Association is forming an advisory committee to study how similar initiatives could be launched in the thousands of Catholic schools nationwide.
“The teaching of anti-racism is pretty strong in Catholic schools,” said Kathy Mears, the NCEA's interim president. “But teaching the contributions of Black Catholics to our history is not where it should have been. Whatever we can do to correct this error, we’re all in.”
Among those recruited to join the advisory committee is Henry Fortier, superintendent of Catholic schools in Orlando, Florida.
“We need to have an honest ongoing effort, not just something to placate people,” he said. “There’s a point in time where people are fed up.”
In a recent podcast, Fortier and another Black superintendent of Catholic schools, RaeNell Houston of New Orleans, challenged Mears to ensure that the NCEA’s leadership becomes more racially diverse.
“Challenge accepted,” Mears replied. “We will work on all those things at NCEA because we do want to be part of the solution. ... We want to do better.”
Fortier said a few Catholic schools with predominantly Black student bodies do teach...