Can New Orleans Churches Lead the Way in Reparations?

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...