Orissa Arend Think504.com
Will churches in New Orleans step up to bridge the long-standing divide between Black and White communities?
A movement for reparations within New Orleans churches seems like the ideal starting point. Politics are too volatile to mention the word “reparations” in mixed company. We’ll need the Holy Spirit, Yahweh, Allah, and all their helpers to devise a plan. This plan should include communicating it within our circles, raising funds, and distributing them wisely. Can New Orleans churches lead the way in reparations?
In 2022, a small group of White church elders discovered a Tulane Master’s Thesis from 2010. This thesis documented the Episcopal Church’s Origins in New Orleans. These women had studied and meditated together for four years. Their group, a weekly Contemplative Justice Gathering, began after George Floyd’s murder. They educated themselves by reading Black authors, hearing Black speakers, and discussing anti-racism work.
Can New Orleans Churches Lead the Way in Reparations?
The thesis exposed that the Episcopal Church in New Orleans was established on the backs of enslaved Africans. The church founders justified this exploitation by citing the Gospels. By the early 1840s, slavery in the South was seen not as a necessary evil but as a means of civilization and salvation. White Christian slaveholders believed they were uplifting a race through their efforts.
Bishop Leonidas Polk arrived in 1842 to lead the Episcopal Church in Louisiana. He owned more than 250 enslaved Africans on several plantations. Polk sought to save their souls while convincing them to accept their subservient positions. He encouraged them to “do their duty in that state of life, in which it has pleased God to call them.”
Many White people couldn’t imagine a heaven that included Blacks. The Episcopal Diocese brought the Gospel to enslaved people on the enslavers’ terms. Polk later fought in the Civil War as a Confederate general and died from Union artillery in 1864. Given this history, can New Orleans churches lead the way in reparations?
Appalled by these revelations, the group worked to publicize the thesis within church circles. They educated themselves about church history and efforts toward repair. Two women from the group pursued direct action. They tirelessly pushed for quick, meaningful steps. A subgroup formed to establish a reparations fund. The fund would be raised mainly from White churches and distributed by Black church members, community leaders, and historians. This new group, Repair the Breach NOLA, reviewed 40 Reparations Programs and selected one as a model for New Orleans. They quickly formed partnerships, acquired a fiscal agent, defined their structure, and created a mission and vision. They also reached out to people of color, synagogues, mosques, and various Christian churches.
Why am I writing about this? Well, you know where the devil resides—in the details, right? I want to document our struggles as we move from our simple but brilliant idea into action. I’m also writing because I’m a writer with a small platform. In my White, controlling way, I like to imagine I can help shape the narrative in both the church and the larger community. I expect pushback from all sides, which I will chronicle. Perhaps the narrative of how New Orleans churches helped repair the racial breach will take on a life of its own.
Orissa Arend is a member of Trinity Episcopal Church, a pillar of Justice and Beyond, and Author of Showdown in Desire: The Black Panthers Take a Stand in New Orleans.
Recommended For You.
Be the first to comment