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Studying Atlantic Slavery from Qatar

The Descendants of Slavery

'Connecting Mayland's past to Louisiana's present: The Georgetown 272'.

LSU Honors college undergraduates embarked on a journey to reveal hidden stories and unnoticed memories from the descendants of Georgetown's 272 sold slaves. The interviewees expressed their opinions on multiple aspects of the historical incident like how did they feel about Georgetown's overlooking of their Jesuit values and still proceeding to sell humans, their future hopes from Georgetown's institution, and how do they expect Georgetown to acknowledge their slave ancestors. 

Contradicting the honorable Jesuit values, Priests administrating the university of Georgetown sold 272 people in 1838. They perceived an opportunity in the enslavement of vulnerable black people to pay off their enormous debts. However, the effects of this historical incident remain prevalent in our contemporary times, inside the minds of the descendants of the enslaved. Georgetown was one of the many institutions to Profit off of another human’s submission even if it goes against the teachings of Christianity. In fact, building powerful civilizations and maintaining economies were favored over the freedom of slaves. Also, it was not extraordinary to use religion as a justification for enslaving people where “God had ordained slavery”[1] propagated in this era.  

 The unheard story of enchaining 272 souls to save Georgetown’s collapsed economy has come to light through official archive documents but touched hearts through art pieces. In your imagination, portray the heavyweight of an enormous institution being carried on the backs of enchained black slaves[2]; it is enough to gain your sympathy and broaden your moral imagination. Georgetown is morally obligated to acknowledge the descendants of those who were sold to save the institution. Acknowledgment does not equate to apologies. For instance, Melisande Short-Colomb hopes to see the creation of more educational opportunities for the descendants of the 272 sold slaves. What would be a better opportunity than the institution their ancestors were sold from? Georgetown, the school of political affairs, definitely. In fact, a higher education quality results in higher participation and inclusion of the black community in socio-politics[3]; Black empowerment influences black participation by contributing to a more trusting and efficacious orientation to politics and by greatly increasing black attentiveness to political affairs.

 Slavery came to an end in 1865 and the term ‘slave’ was eliminated but prejudice and hatred towards Black Americans were deeply embedded within the American societies that a law system was established to legally discriminate and humiliate Black people, Jim Crow. The descendants of slaves could not escape enslavement. Slavery was reformed to take a new shape, in the form of racial segregation. Segregation in education, civil rights, healthcare, and even among water fountains[4]. Carolyn Morris, one descendant born in 1946, lived through these unfortunate events and finally got the opportunity to share her story in this project. Additionally, a person like Carolyn Morris faced many obstacles when it comes to the civil right of voting. When it comes to voting, a number of lawsuits challenging various requirements―including literacy tests, poll taxes, and white primaries―were designed primarily to strip African American men of their right to vote in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

                                                                               Aisha Al-Abdullah- GUQ'24

                                                    

[1] La Ultima Cena = The Last Supper (publisher not identified, 1976).

[2] The Editorial Board, “Georgetown and the Sin of Slavery,” The New York Times (The New York Times, April 23, 2016), https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/opinion/sunday/georgetown-and-the-sin-of-slavery.html.

[3] Lawrence Bobo and Franklin D. Gilliam (Cambridge university press), accessed December 8, 2020, https://scholar.harvard.edu/bobo/files/racesocio.pdf.

[4] Catherine M. Lewis, “Living Jim Crow,” in Jim Crow America: A Documentary History, ed. J. Richard Lewis (University of Arkansas Press, 2009), pp. 87-142.

Bibliography:

 

  1. Board, The Editorial. “Georgetown and the Sin of Slavery.” The New York Times. The New York Times, April 23, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/opinion/sunday/georgetown-and-the-sin-of-slavery.html.
  2. Bobo, Lawrence, and Franklin D. Gilliam. "Race, Sociopolitical Participation, and Black Empowerment". Cambridge university press. Accessed December 8, 2020. https://scholar.harvard.edu/bobo/files/racesocio.pdf.
  3. La Ultima Cena = The Last Supper. Place of publication not identified: publisher not identified, 1976.
  4. Lewis, Catherine. “Living Jim Crow.” Essay. In Jim Crow America: A Documentary History, edited by J. Richard Lewis, 87–142. Univeristy of Arkansas Press, 2009.
  5. Volney, Riser. “Defying—but Not Defeating—Black Disfranchisement.” Defying—but Not Defeating—Black Disfranchisement - R. Volney Riser. Defying Disfranchisement: Black Voting Rights Activism in the Jim Crow South, 1890–1908. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2010. 326 pp. $40.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-08071363386, 2010.