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| John Carroll, first American Archbishop: slaveowner |
John Carroll had a slave.
So now to raise diversity stats
My Alma Mater (Almus Pater?)
Is thinking of changing its
Name. I happened on this fact
Because I have yet to remove
cle.com from my bookmarks.
Honestly I was looking only
For the weather back home
When I came upon the story.
Tim Gill, the author, a 2007
Graduate of JCU, is a post-
Doctoral fellow at Tulane’s
Center for Inter-American
Studies. Discovery of the
Slave-owning prelate resulted
From research into how many
American schools profited
From the slave industry in
The earliest centuries of their
Existence, notably like
Georgetown, a leading Jesuit
School. Princeton and Yale
Were the first to come to light.
Eventually Catholics would
Be scrutinized and rightly so.
Two things about the story
Caught my attention. First,
Why weren’t we as students
Informed of this fact about
Our supposedly benevolent
Namesake? And second,
Why was our school lagging
In diversity in the first place
Considering its leadership by
Socially sensitive religious
Throughout the civil rights
Years into the “post-racial”
Obama presidency? But wait,
There’s more to the story.
After reading the article I
Perused the comments, many
Of which claimed to be from
Carroll alums. Now we also
Know trolls are paid to enter
Comments for any range of
Political topics and Carroll’s
Poor showing on diversity fit
Somebody’s agenda. I read
I guess a hundred comments
And found not a one favoring
The name change or recognizing
Carroll’s student body tint
Needed some bronzing. Virtually
All were so scurrilous and
Vicious it was impossible these
Were submitted by well-educated
Christian gentlemen. Such is the
Flaw with anonymous commentary.
Could be trolls. Could be real
Convictions of that part of the
American electorate who didn’t
See what was so wrong about
Electing a racist as president.
The good Jesuits should have
Noticed. If they did, they weren’t
Saying anything about it.
You know, like about
The slave-owning bishop.
c. J.S.Manista, 2017
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