Black History Month

February is Black History Month. It offers us a focused period to learn, read about, and appreciate the significant history and contributions of Black Americans to this country. Historically, the history of African-Americans did not receive much attention in history books and elsewhere. Our country has a long history which includes Black persons and that history is our history.

We must admit that there were almost no Africans who had the freedom to sail the oceans and explore the world. The Africans who arrived at the shores of this country did so unwillingly. They were enslaved, chained, and endured great violence as they were brought to serve on farms, plantations, and in businesses. They did not choose that life.

The first slaves arrived in Virginia in the year 1619. Not until the Emancipation Proclamation that set slaves free by an act of the United States government in 1863, was there any real change for the slaves. For nearly 250 years it was legal for one person to “own” another as a slave. Even after 1863 we know that many black slaves were not freed and did not experience freedom for decades after. The traditions of prejudice and discrimination endure to this very day.

Not everyone owned slaves in those 250 years of legal enslavement, but many who did not possess slaves supported the rights of others to do so. There were various ways in which to participate in a slave-holding society. Many people received economic benefits from slavery by purchasing inexpensive merchandise produced by slave labor. Segregation became a way to prolong the worst consequences of slavery by preventing now free African-Americans from fully participating in the public life, schools, government, and other institutions of the nation.

Today, we recognize and admit the sins of slavery, racism, prejudice and discrimination. They are sins and for these we must repent. We do not need to repent for historical wrongs in which we did not participate. However, we do need to acknowledge that those terrible wrongs occurred, including torture, beatings, rape, and murder. We learn from history, and for the wrongs we discover we vow never to repeat.

Peace, Fr. Andy