Amanda Smith-Chonko

CST Final Project

Faith, Religion & Society

SLA 150-02

Racism

Throughout history there have been many events taken place that have related to

racism. To understand the Catholic Social Tradition on racism, historical events of racism

involving slavery, racial profiling and education need to be understood. “Our history is littered

with the debris of broken promises and treaties, as well as lynchings and massacres that almost

destroyed the Indians, humiliated the Hispanics, and crushed the blacks” (O’Brien/Shannon,

2010, 595). Racism in regards to slavery and to education will be the focus of the historical

events stated below. Although racism has affected many other ethnicities other than African

Americans such as Native Americans, the Mexicans and Puerto Ricans; African Americans will

be the focus of this sort of racism.

In 1472, a Portuguese negotiate the first slave trade agreement. This slave trade

agreement included gold and ivory. Due to the slave trade, by the end of the 19 th Century there

were five times as many African Americans that arrived in the Americas than Europeans. In

1610, Henry Hudson’s The Half Moon arrived in the “New World” which was assumed to be

carrying African slaves. 1619 is when a Dutch ship brought the first permanent African settlers

to Jamestown, VA. Massachusetts became the first colony to recognize slavery as a legal

institution in 1641. An enslaved person must be freed after 10 years of service was declared by

Rhode Island in 1651. A child born to an enslaved mother was also a slave when a Virginia
court decides this in 1663. Encouraging the expansion of the British slave trade, the King of

England charters the Royal African Company in 1672. During this year, slavery was prohibited

in West New Jersey

From 1730 and on, England trades aggressively in North American slaves in the following

areas: New York, Boston, and Charleston which served as homeports for slave vessels. In 1750

Georgia was the last of the British North American colonies to legalize slavery. During 1775

there were many different slavery events that occurred in our history. This was the year of the

world’s first anti-slavery society being formed: Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition

of Slavery (PAS). Another event that happened during this year, the first Quaker anti-slavery

society was formed. Benjamin Franklin becomes Honorary President of the Society in 1787.

Also, Thomas Paine speaks out against slavery and he joins the Pennsylvania Society for

Promoting the Abolition of Slavery with Benjamin Rush. The Gradual Emancipation Act was

passed in Pennsylvania in 1780.

Much like 1786 there were many events that transpired during 1787. During this year,

Northwest Ordinance bans slavery in the newly organized territory ceded by Virginia. Also,

Philadelphia free blacks establish the Free African Society in Philadelphia. This was the first

independent black organization and a mutual aid society. The United States Constitution was

ratified to allow a male slave to count as three-fifths of a man in determining representation in

the House of Representatives. Because of this, the Constitution sets 1808 as the earliest date

for the national government to ban the slave trade.

During 1787, Rhode Island outlawed the slave trade. Pennsylvania amended law to

forbid removal of African Americans from the state in 1788. The first independent black
churches in America were established in Philadelphia in an act of self-determination and a

protest against segregation was formed in 1794. Congress enacted the federal Slave Trade Act

of 1794 prohibiting American Vessels to transport slaves to any foreign country from outfitting

in American ports. The first black initialed petition to Congress in 1797 was done so in

Philadelphia. This was done so in regards to the free blacks protest to the North Carolina laws

re-enslaving blacks freed during the Revolution.

During the 1800’s some major events and milestones took place that changed African

slave life. Parliament outlaws British participation in the African Slave Trade in 1807. Falling

suit the United Stated outlaws Americans participation in the African Slave Trade in 1808. In

the year of 1820, Missouri Compromise allowed Missouri to become a slave state. It was also

established Maine as a free state and banned slavery in the territory west of Missouri. During

the year 1821, the first anti-slavery newspaper was established. Segregated public schools in

Philadelphia opened in 1822 for African Americans. During the 1830’s, anti-slavery was a major

topic. In 1830 Virginia legislature launched an intense debate on abolishing slavery. 1831 was

when William Lloyd Garrison of Boston began to publish The Liberator, which was the most

famous anti-slavery newspaper. Education was again discussed during 1832 when Maria

Stewart of Boston launches a public career as a speaker and pamphleteer. Her mission was to

call women to take up what would become pioneering work as teachers, school founders, and

education innovators.

In that next year, American Antislavery Society was organized in Philadelphia and led by

William Lloyd Garrison. Thus, for the next three decades, the Society campaigns that slavery

was illegal under natural law. Over the course of five years the organization had more than
1,350 chapters and over 250,000 members. To keep the movement progressing for antislavery,

the female antislavery societies were organized in Boston and Philadelphia in 1835. The group

was named Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society and consisted of both white and black

middle class women. The women would meet at each other’s homes. The founding of the

Institute for Colored Youth in 1837 later became Cheyney University. Institute for Colored

Youth was one of the earliest historically black colleges in the United States. The state of

Pennsylvania revised their state Constitution so that African Americans are disfranchised in

1838. Pope Gregory XVI condemned slavery and the slave trade in the year of 1839.

Jumping ahead a decade, in 1848 slavery was abolished in all French territories.

Whereas the Free Soil Party was organized to stop the spread of slavery into the Western

territories. A major conductor for the Underground Railroad and an advocate for Women’s

Rights was Harriet Tubman whom escaped from slavery in 1849. The Compromise of 1850

included a controversial Fugitive Slave Law where it compelled all citizens to help in the

recovery of fugitive slaves. Within the next year, federal marshals and Maryland slave hunters

deliberately seeked out suspected fugitive slaves in Christiana now known as Lancaster, PA.

Lincoln University in Pennsylvania was chartered in April 1854 as Ashmun Institute. The

institute provides an education in the arts and science for male youth of African descent. The

first institution of higher education owned and operated by African Americans opened in Ohio

as a private, coeducational institution in 1856. Lincoln’s election in 1860 leads to Southern

states separating and started the Civil War between the free and the slave states. Successfully,

Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 which abolished slavery in territory

controlled by the Confederate States of America. Thus, in 1864 Congress ruled that black
soldiers must receive equal pay. Sadly, in 1865, the Ku Klux Klan was formed by ex-

Confederates in Pulaski, Tennessee.

From the years of 1866-1877, many events happened that changed history. Black and

white teachers from the north traveled south to build schools and teach former slaves eager to

become literate. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Also with the protection of the

13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, African Americans

participated in politics, voted, and used public accommodations. In 1868 the Fourteenth

Amendment granted blacks citizenship. The Ku Klux Klan also evolved into a hooded terrorist

organization. The 15th Amendment was passed permitting black men the right to vote in the

year of 1869. Octavius V. Catto was a National Equal Rights League leader, who was

assassinated in 1870, by a white man in a way of attempting to discourage black voting in the

key Philadelphia election. His funeral was the largest public funeral in Philadelphia since

Lincoln’s. His death was mourned by many especially in black communities throughout the

country. The court case of Plessy v. Ferguson upheld doctrine of “separate but equal” among

Blacks and Whites in public facilities in 1896.

1909 was the year of the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of

Colored People (NAACP). NAACP was dedicated to ending segregation and discrimination

against African Americans. Skipping ahead into the year of 1931, nine African American men

were falsely accused of rape by two white women, which became known as the “Scottsboro

Affair.” The men were judged and sentenced by an all-white jury which lead their case to

become a landmark victory for civil rights. This led the Supreme Court to rule that the

defendants were denied due process because they did not have a lawyer and were denied a
jury of their peers, specifically by the barring of Blacks from serving on the jury. African

Americans in 1941 threaten to march on Washington to protest unequal access to defense jobs.

In the case of Brown v. Broad, a decision was made that segregation in public schools

was illegal in 1954. August of 1955 a fourteen-year-old boy named Emmett Till was kidnapped,

brutally beaten, shot and killed for allegedly whistling at a white woman. There were two men

arrested for the murder but were acquitted by an all-white jury and boast about the murder in

a Look magazine interview.

In December of 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat at the front of the

“colored” section to a white passenger and was arrested. In response to Rosa Parks’ refusal to

move, the Montgomery bus boycott began and lasted over a year until the buses were

desegregated. As a pastor of a Baptist church in Montgomery, Martin Luther King, Jr. led this

black bus boycott and became a national hero. Between the years of 1959-1963, Martin Luther

King, Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail inspired a growing national civil rights movement. The

goal in Birmingham was to end the system of segregation in every aspect of public life such as

stores, no separate bathrooms and drinking fountains, and job discrimination. During that

same year in 1963, King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. During the year of 1965, voting

rights were passed which authorizes direct federal intervention to enable blacks to vote.

On April 4, 1968, James Earl Ray assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr. Because of the

outrage of his murder, many blacks took to the streets in a massive wave of riots across the U.S.

In the year of 1988 Congress overrides veto by President Reagan to pass the Civil Rights

Restoration Act expanding anti-discrimination laws to private institutions that received federal

funds. During President Bush’s term in 1991 he reversed himself and signed the Civil Rights Act
of 1991 after two years of debate. This action was to strengthen existing civil rights law and

provided for damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination. The beating of

African American Rodney King in 1992 sparked riots in Los Angeles which were the first in

decades. There was a videotape released on the beating of King by four white police officers.

An African American farm filed a lawsuit in 1997 arguing discrimination in access to

loans and subsidies to the USDA. James Byrd Jr. an African American man was chained to the

back of a pickup truck in 1998 and dragged for three miles in a brutal murder by white

supremacists. Because of his lynching it led to the passage of new hate crimes legislation in the

state of Texas. A class action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture was won by

the African-American farmers in 1999 for racial discrimination of farm loans and assistance.

In the city of Cincinnati there are four days of civil unrest following the fatal shooting of

Timothy Thomas whom was a 19-year-old African American male. Thomas was shot by a white

police officer Steven Roach. This was the largest urban rebellion in the United States since the

Los Angeles riots in 1992. Thus, this led to ACLU of Northern California to create the Racial

Justice Project which focused on racial profiling by law enforcement. Congress passed the USA

Patriot Act which expands the powers of law enforcement. This led to increased racial profiling,

immigrant detentions and deportations. After the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrine in

2005, institutional racism and the neglect of poor communities became central issues as low-

income African Americans were among the most affected by Katrina. While undercover and

while in plainclothes, NYPD cops shoot at three African American men a total of 50 times in

2006. Thus, injuring two and killing Sean Bell on the day before his wedding. The trial of the

officers resulted in not guilty verdicts. Approximately 20,000 people march in Jena, Louisiana in
2007. The purpose of the march was to protest the arrest and overzealous attempts to convict

six African American teenagers. The chargers were of attempted murder in the alleged 2006

assault on a white fellow student at their high school and the case of the “Jena 6” gained

widespread attention.

New Year’s morning in 2009 Oscar Grant was shot and killed by a Bay Area Rapid Transit

(BART) police officer which resulted in massive demonstrations in Oakland. The protests renew

the spotlight on police violence against persons of color and result in the arrest of the transit

officer who was later convicted. Five New Orleans police officers are convicted by a federal jury

in 2011 on charges related to the cover-up and deprivation of civil rights related to the shooting

of unarmed African American on the Danzinger Bridge in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The

world watched as racism played a huge role in the 2012 shooting and death of a 17-year-old

teenager named Trayvon Martin. The shooter was a neighborhood-watch volunteer George

Zimmerman, and this occurred in Sanford, Florida. Zimmerman was not charged in the

shooting until national outrage forced city leaders to arrest him. Thus, several thousand-people

marched from Harlem to the Upper East Side townhouse of Mayor Michael Bloomberg to

protest. The focus of the protest was the New York’s notorious “stop-and-frisk” police

procedure, which almost exclusively targeted young Black and Latino males. At the end of

George Zimmerman’s trial in 2013 he was found not guilty of the murder of teenager Trayvon

Martin. Protests spread through more than 100 cities across the country in support of the

victim’s family after Zimmerman’s not guilty verdict.

Also in 2013, student activists, the Dream Defenders, drew national attention for the

longest sit-in demonstration as their demand for a special session on the “stand your ground”
law was rejected. On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown was an unarmed black teenager whom

was shot to death by a white police officer names Darren Wilson, in Ferguson, Missouri. On

November 24, a grand jury ruled not to indict Wilson on the death of Michael Brown. Nine days

following that ruling, a grand jury in New York ruled not to indict Daniel Pantaleo. Daniel

Pantaleo was a while police officer who held Eric Garner whom was an unarmed black man, in a

chokehold, ultimately causing Garner’s death on July 14, 2014. These two deaths sparked

anger and disappointment worldwide and causing worldwide news coverage. Pope Francis,

reacting to the worldwide news coverage, named racism as a curse of our times.

The Catholic Social Thought’s views on racism are very clear. Per the Brothers and

Sisters to Us (U.S. Catholic Bishops Pastoral Letter on Racism, 1979 it states “the moral evil that

denied human persons their dignity as children of God and their God given rights”

(O’Brien/Shannon, 2010, 591). This quote alone can state the stand that Catholic Social

Thought has on racism. For the consideration of racism is grounded in fundamental scripted

beliefs of equal dignity of all people, created in God’s image, and Christ’s redemption for all

persons. The Catholic Social Thought has different principles such as human dignity.

Human dignity is a key principle is the Catholic Social Thought as human dignity is

rooted in Scripture as God is the creator of all humans. Scripture that demonstrates human

dignity would be “God said, “Let us make man [and woman] in our own image, in the likeness of

ourselves” (Gen, 1:26). Human life is to be scared and to be respected in regards to human

dignity. Human dignity deserves respect in and of itself throughout all variety of human

situations and activities. The Catholic Social Thought believes that equality among all persons is

the basis for human dignity. Everyone is created equally and from God and deserve equal
human rights no matter what race the person is. Charity is another principle of the Catholic

Social Thought. Charity in regards to the Catholic Social Thought is having everyone being

treated equally without riots, marches, violence, and providing education on different races.

Another principle of the Catholic Social Thought is the common good.

“Racism can be defined as negative beliefs, attitudes actions, or behaviors that are

based on phenotypic characteristics or ethnic affiliations” (Pachter, 2010, 1). An essential part

of the common good for the Catholic Social Thought is that of ethnic characteristics of diverse

human groups are to be respected. Also, the common good requires that all members of the

state be entitled to share in it but at the same time in different ways per each person’s tasks,

merits, and circumstances. Rights of citizens should be maintained in a careful balance

between coordinating and protecting those rights of the citizens per the requirements of the

common good. Also, it should not allow individuals or social groups to have special advantages

from the fact that their rights have received privileged safety. The Catholic Social Thought

believes in regards to the common good, to see everyone as an equal. Using the common good

in the sense of solidarity would be to say that we are one human family, whatever our

nationality, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences may be. Charity that focuses

on love is another principle of the Catholic Social Thought.

Charity focuses on acts of charity out of a concern for loving people. Charitable acts

such as educating people on different races, ethnicities, historical events of racism, economic,

or nationality differences. Educating our children while in school of different races and that

everyone should be treated the same would be a charity of the Catholic Social Thought.

Another example would be to offer a judgement-free area in local communities where the
community can be taught on the different races, ethnicities, economic, and nationality

differences that are in their community. This would also be a great way to use the subsidiarity

principle of the Catholic Social Thought where it should be considering everyone’s views and

the community decide together. Having a judgement-free area in communities to ask

questions or learn facts of different races, ethnicities, economic, or nationality differences that

can be found in their community would help to education people of racism ultimately

eliminating racism.

In the principle of social justice in regards to the Catholic Social Thought refers to racism

as a social sin. The Catholic Social Thought would say that people should not treat different

races like minorities. Every one person no matter what their race, ethnicity, economic, and

nationality difference should be treated the same because we are all the images of God.

Preferential option for racism per the Catholic Social Thought would be that God cares and

created everyone so with that same regard we should treat every person the same no matter

their race, ethnicities, economic, or nationality difference. Racism may also have a lasting

negative effect on a person’s biological or psychological responses.

Racism may affect one’s health and well-being because it is a toxic stressor. Racism

considered as a stressor may produce negative biological or psychological responses. Especially

for children, this type of negativity can have a lasting effect on them. Knowing that racism

could have a negative outcome then there should be interventions and/or preventive strategies

developed to limit the effects of racism. Racism may contribute to differences in

socioeconomic status, exposure to different risk factors and available resources, and

psychological or physiological functioning of a person exposed to racism.

 I feel that the Catholic Social Thought has the exact right idea in regards to racism.

Racism has become a more persistent issue in our society. I feel that if we educate people of

different races, ethnicities, economic, and nationality differences our society would be more

understanding of those persons whom don’t look like us. I think that every person should be

treated the same way that we expect to be treated. Racism has been a growing issue in our

society and when I was in high school I participated in a club that was trying to make racism a

thing of the past. Unfortunately, I have been out of high school for over 10 years but I think

within the past 10+ years racism has been an even more social sin than in recent decades

before. Looking at the history of racism in regards to African Americans, there are centuries of

racism to be documented but within the past few decades it has become a more violent and

widespread issue. I agree with the Catholic Social Thought when seeing everyone as an equal

and educating people of our differences. I like the fact that the Catholic Social Thought believes

that because God created and cares for everyone as should we. I have experienced racism

when my family lived in Nebraska as we were the only Caucasian family in the neighborhood.

There was a point when we experienced a drive-by shooting on our home. In that moment, my

parents decided to move. When pondering on who to be friends with, I was never taught to

look at a person’s race. “Dismantling racism is a process; success will be measured in small

victories. The more difficult change required in dismantling racism is personal change”

(Lappetito, 2015, 4).

Sources:

Bibliography:
Raphael Salomon, L., Quiroz, J., Potapchuk, M., & Villarosa, L. (2014). Timeline of Race, Racism,

Resistance and Philanthropy 1992-2014. Moving Forward on Racial Justice Philanthropy, 5, .

Retrieved from http://racialequity.org/docs/CIF5Timeline.pdf

In-line Citation:

(Raphael Salomon, Quiroz, Potapchuk, & Villarosa, 2014)

Bibliography:

Lappetito, S. J. (2015, March 1). FEATURED ARTICLE: Dismantling racism through Catholic social

teaching. Retrieved November 21, 2016, from Sisters of Mercy Hermanas de la Misericordia,

http://www.sistersofmercy.org/about-us/news-and-events/featured-article-dismantling-

racism-through-catholic-social-teaching/?t=news

In-line Citation:

(Lappetito, 2015)

Bibliography:

Kammer, S.J, F. F. (2009). Catholic Social Teaching (CST) and Racism. JSRI Newsletter, 20-

709(Fall), 5–6. Retrieved from

http://www.loyno.edu/jsri/sites/loyno.edu.jsri/files/CSTandRacism-Fall2009jsq.pdf

In-line Citation:

(Kammer, S.J, 2009)

Bibliography:
Smith, V. C. (1995). American Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights Timeline. Retrieved November 23,

2016, from US History.org, http://www.ushistory.org/more/timeline.htm

In-line Citation:

(Smith, 1995)

Bibliography:

HISTORY OF RACISM AND IMMIGRATION TIME LINE. Retrieved November 22, 2016, from

http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415892940/data/8%20history%20and%20immigratio

n%20timeline.pdf

In-line Citation:

(“HISTORY OF RACISM AND IMMIGRATION TIME LINE,” n.d.)

Bibliography:

O’Brien, D. J., & Shannon, T. A. (Eds.). (2010). Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary

Heritage (Expanded Edition ed.). United States: Orbis Books (USA).

In-line Citation:

(O’Brien & Shannon, 2010)