The Cruel Past of Georgetown and an Uncertain Future

Georgetown University, Healy Building, Washington, D.C., circa 1876. | Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

A Sinful Past at Georgetown — and an Uncertain Future … In 2016, journalist Rachel Swarns brought national attention to the shocking fact that Jesuit priests sold enslaved people to fund what became Georgetown University. Now, she’s exploring the stories of those people — and the broader role of slavery in the church’s early days in America — in a new book, The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church. “I had never heard of Catholic priests enslaving people,” she tells Jesse Naranjo. “I was really astounded, and I've been doing this research, going through archival records of the buying and selling of people by Catholic priests to sustain and help the church expand, even as I am going to Mass.” In this interview, the two spoke about the overturning of affirmative action, the roiling debate over how to teach students about slavery, and the future of diversity on campus.