At times it is important for us to reiterate both Catholic teaching and the Jesuit values of Loyola University. The Catechism of the Catholic Church condemns slavery as an offense against the 7th Commandment for its assault on human dignity (#2424) and racial discrimination as “incompatible with God’s design” (#1935). Any defense of slavery or racial discrimination insults all those who have struggled for human dignity and racial justice at Loyola and throughout this land and minimizes the incredible violence, lynching, destruction of families, forced labor, sexual assaults, denial of rights, and systematic dehumanization that have been integral to both slavery and discrimination.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a critical legal achievement aimed to end second-class treatment of people of color. More importantly, Catholic social teaching and Jesuit values call all of us to ongoing conversion to positively promote racial equality, sharing of goods, mutual aid, and collaboration with all racial and ethnic groups.