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Fast Money & Foreign Objects
Why Pope Francis’s silence on black America may soon end
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By Terrence McCoy September 18 at 10:54 AM
pool party where an onlooker had recorded a white cop wrestling to the ground a black 14-year-old girl in a bikini in the Dallas suburbs.
[Here’s why black Catholics want recognition from Pope Francis]
“I was very shocked,” Blackmon said. “It did catch me off guard. And when we were there, [the pool party] had just happened. This wasn’t a case where anyone lost their life, and to ask about it was a way of saying, ‘We are paying attention. We do know what’s going on. And we’re looking deeper than the surface.’ ”
That discussion, which Blackmon said was intended to prepare Pope Francis for his trip to the United States, marks some of the clearest evidence yet that the pontiff may address topics of racial justice during his trip here next week. There’s already wide belief that Francis will advocate for climate change, inequality and broader protections for immigrants, but speculation is mounting that Pope Francis could also wade into the contentious issue of race in America.
If so, it would end Francis’s silence on black America. Francis harshly criticized U.S. border policies last summer at the height of the unaccompanied minor crisis at the Texas border, calling them indicative of “racist and xenophobic attitudes.” And yet Francis, who often speaks broadly about global racism, hasn’t specifically addressed the racial tension in the United States that has inflamed debate over police shootings, mass incarceration and urban decay in African American communities.
parceled out slaves to his friends — but has since adopted a much more progressive stance. Pope John Paul II, who in 1985 apologized to African leaders for the involvement of white Christians in the slave trade, later called racism “a plague” on the United States during a 1999 trip to St. Louis.
Leaders of the Black Lives Matters movement suspect Pope Francis will employ similar language to address communities that seem little changed since John Paul’s visit nearly two decades ago. Francis has already shown a willingness to stake out strong positions on other divisive debates, said Shaun King, a leading voice in the movement.
“It would mean a lot if he used some of his time in the United States to address police brutality and racial injustice,” King said. “I’d stop short of calling it a wasted trip if he didn’t, but it would be a disappointment.”
Blackmon’s team meets with Monsignor Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, a key adviser to Pope Francis. (Courtesy of Blackmon)
So that’s perhaps why Blackmon had so many audiences with the pope’s advisers during her week at the Vatican last June. They came one after another — so many, she said, that she has difficulty clearly remembering them all. “We met with people who were intricately involved in planning this trip” to the United States, she said. She added, “We met with eight different Vatican representatives, and in every conversation, this was the tone: It was a sense of urgency that we must get these messages out and get them known.”
And what of this pool party in Texas? she said Monsignor Wells suddenly asked one day.
“I told them it was indicative of racial discord that permeates America, that’s always been here, and it manifests in various ways in the history of our nation and that we’re at a critical moment.”
Wells, she said, nodded at her. And Blackmon realized that Pope Francis could soon become a very public — and very powerful — ally in her quest for racial equality. “The history of Pope Francis’s remarks indicates that he wouldn’t come to the United States and not address the issue that’s most pressing. And here, that’s race.”
Why Pope Francis’s silence on black America may soon end
this could be glorious
Resize Text
Comments 19
By Terrence McCoy September 18 at 10:54 AM
pool party where an onlooker had recorded a white cop wrestling to the ground a black 14-year-old girl in a bikini in the Dallas suburbs.
[Here’s why black Catholics want recognition from Pope Francis]
“I was very shocked,” Blackmon said. “It did catch me off guard. And when we were there, [the pool party] had just happened. This wasn’t a case where anyone lost their life, and to ask about it was a way of saying, ‘We are paying attention. We do know what’s going on. And we’re looking deeper than the surface.’ ”
That discussion, which Blackmon said was intended to prepare Pope Francis for his trip to the United States, marks some of the clearest evidence yet that the pontiff may address topics of racial justice during his trip here next week. There’s already wide belief that Francis will advocate for climate change, inequality and broader protections for immigrants, but speculation is mounting that Pope Francis could also wade into the contentious issue of race in America.
If so, it would end Francis’s silence on black America. Francis harshly criticized U.S. border policies last summer at the height of the unaccompanied minor crisis at the Texas border, calling them indicative of “racist and xenophobic attitudes.” And yet Francis, who often speaks broadly about global racism, hasn’t specifically addressed the racial tension in the United States that has inflamed debate over police shootings, mass incarceration and urban decay in African American communities.
parceled out slaves to his friends — but has since adopted a much more progressive stance. Pope John Paul II, who in 1985 apologized to African leaders for the involvement of white Christians in the slave trade, later called racism “a plague” on the United States during a 1999 trip to St. Louis.
Leaders of the Black Lives Matters movement suspect Pope Francis will employ similar language to address communities that seem little changed since John Paul’s visit nearly two decades ago. Francis has already shown a willingness to stake out strong positions on other divisive debates, said Shaun King, a leading voice in the movement.
“It would mean a lot if he used some of his time in the United States to address police brutality and racial injustice,” King said. “I’d stop short of calling it a wasted trip if he didn’t, but it would be a disappointment.”
Blackmon’s team meets with Monsignor Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, a key adviser to Pope Francis. (Courtesy of Blackmon)
So that’s perhaps why Blackmon had so many audiences with the pope’s advisers during her week at the Vatican last June. They came one after another — so many, she said, that she has difficulty clearly remembering them all. “We met with people who were intricately involved in planning this trip” to the United States, she said. She added, “We met with eight different Vatican representatives, and in every conversation, this was the tone: It was a sense of urgency that we must get these messages out and get them known.”
And what of this pool party in Texas? she said Monsignor Wells suddenly asked one day.
“I told them it was indicative of racial discord that permeates America, that’s always been here, and it manifests in various ways in the history of our nation and that we’re at a critical moment.”
Wells, she said, nodded at her. And Blackmon realized that Pope Francis could soon become a very public — and very powerful — ally in her quest for racial equality. “The history of Pope Francis’s remarks indicates that he wouldn’t come to the United States and not address the issue that’s most pressing. And here, that’s race.”
Why Pope Francis’s silence on black America may soon end
this could be glorious
