ND PC Police
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From: "Office of the President" <president@nd.edu>
Date: January 20, 2019 at 3:00:16 PM EST
Subject: A Message from Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.
Reply-To: president@nd.edu
UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
January 20, 2019
Feast of Basil Moreau, C.S.C., founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross
Dear Members of the Notre Dame Community,
As we celebrate the feast of Fr. Basil Moreau, C.S.C., founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, and as we prepare to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Walk the Walk Week at Notre Dame, I write to let you know of a recent decision.
The murals by Luigi Gregori that adorn the ceremonial entrance to Notre Dame’s Main Building depict the life and exploration of Christopher Columbus. Painted in 1882-84, not long after a devastating fire and reconstruction of the Main Building, they reflect the attitudes of the time and were intended as a didactic presentation, responding to cultural challenges for the school’s largely immigrant, Catholic population. In recent years, however, many have come to see the murals as at best blind to the consequences of Columbus’s voyage for the indigenous peoples who inhabited this “new” world and at worst demeaning toward them.
In recent years I have heard from students, alumni, faculty, staff, representatives of the Native American community, and others on this complex topic. I have decided, after consultation with the University’s Board of Fellows, on a course that will preserve the murals, but will not display them regularly in their current location.
Gregori painted the murals directly on to the plaster of the walls, and so any attempt to move them would damage and likely destroy the works. Since the 1990s, a brochure has been provided that explains to viewers the context of the murals’ composition and some of the historical reality of the events depicted. However, because the second-floor hall of the Main Building is a busy throughway for visitors and members of the University community, it is not well suited for a thoughtful consideration of these paintings and the context of their composition. We will, therefore, create a permanent display for high-quality, high-resolution images of the murals in a campus setting to be determined that will be conducive to such an informed and careful consideration. The murals on the walls of the Main Building will themselves be covered by woven material consistent with the décor of the space, though it will be possible to display the murals on occasion. I will establish a committee to decide on the place to display the images of the murals and the appropriate communication around the display. We will begin soon the making of covers for the murals.
The murals present us with several narratives not easily reconciled, and the tensions among them are especially perplexing for us because of Notre Dame’s distinctive history and Catholic mission. At the time they were painted, the murals were not intended to slight indigenous peoples, but to encourage another marginalized group. In the second half of the 19th century, Notre Dame’s Catholic population, largely immigrants or from families of recent immigrants, encountered significant anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant attitudes in American public life. At the same time, Columbus was hailed by Americans generally as an intrepid explorer, the “first American” and the “discoverer of the New World.” Gregori’s murals focused on the popular image of Columbus as an American hero, who was also an immigrant and a devout Catholic. The message to the Notre Dame community was that they too, though largely immigrants and Catholics, could be fully and proudly American.
For the native peoples of this “new” land, however, Columbus’s arrival was nothing short of a catastrophe. Whatever else Columbus’s arrival brought, for these peoples it led to exploitation, expropriation of land, repression of vibrant cultures, enslavement, and new diseases causing epidemics that killed millions. As Pope John Paul II said in a 1987 meeting with the Native Peoples of the Americas, “the encounter [between native and European cultures] was a harsh and painful reality for your peoples. The cultural oppression, the injustices, the disruption of your way of life and of your traditional societies must be acknowledged.” The murals’ depiction of Columbus as beneficent explorer and friend of the native peoples hides from view the darker side of this story, a side we must acknowledge.
Our goal in making this change is to respect both Gregori’s murals, understood in their historical context, and the reality and experience of Native Americans in the aftermath of Columbus’s arrival. We wish to preserve artistic works originally intended to celebrate immigrant Catholics who were marginalized at the time in society, but do so in a way that avoids unintentionally marginalizing others. The course described above, we believe, honors the University’s heritage, of which we are justly proud, and better respects the heritage of native peoples, who have known great adversity since the arrival of Europeans.
Remembering the legacy of Dr. King and asking in prayer for the intercession of Fr. Moreau, let us renew in our minds and hearts our commitment to respect the dignity of all individuals, their communities, and their cultures, with particular concern for the most vulnerable.
Respectfully,
Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.
President
More than half those liberals parents I promise you have offended plenty of people......can we shame them?
Shame...ring ring.
Shame...ring ring
Shame...ring ring
Jenkins has no spine ! He is talking out of both sides of his mouth. Unfortunately, there are far too many
Leaders like Jenkins leading and teaching at our over priced universities today !
Leaders like Jenkins leading and teaching at our over priced universities today !
Absolutely.
I remember thinking when the ESPN top 100 athletes of the century were announced and he showed up at #20...i thought talk about allowing personal feelings of character distort sporting performance. He was easily top 5 of all time.
The ending of that segment is the absolute best part and most fitting. When Furio says
Fukc them.
Jenkins needs to get a spine
I would like to take the anti Columbus argument one step further, and ask Fr, Jenkins the following question. Are you aware ,Fr. Jenkins , that the Conquistadors brought Catholic missionaries with them
To set up missions and to convert the “ Indians “ to Christianity? If Columbus is guilty of persecuting the native populations, were the missionaries not equallyy guilty? How about the Catholic Church ? How about the Popes, etc ?
Would you like to continue down that path until we destroy all and any symbols and institutions
That may be offensive to some other group of individuals with different views ?
After all, we now have “ Catholic “ universities covering up religious symbols not to offend certain
People or groups ! We have people in Congress stating that Catholics are too “ Dogmatic “ to be appointed
To judicial or other branches of government. Just where do you stand on these issues ?
As a Catholic , I too have feelings and beliefs . I am deeply offended by people attacking my
Faith, my country, and our history ,both, U S and World history !
To set up missions and to convert the “ Indians “ to Christianity? If Columbus is guilty of persecuting the native populations, were the missionaries not equallyy guilty? How about the Catholic Church ? How about the Popes, etc ?
Would you like to continue down that path until we destroy all and any symbols and institutions
That may be offensive to some other group of individuals with different views ?
After all, we now have “ Catholic “ universities covering up religious symbols not to offend certain
People or groups ! We have people in Congress stating that Catholics are too “ Dogmatic “ to be appointed
To judicial or other branches of government. Just where do you stand on these issues ?
As a Catholic , I too have feelings and beliefs . I am deeply offended by people attacking my
Faith, my country, and our history ,both, U S and World history !
Ty Cobb is a top five athlete of all time? He isn't even a Top 5 all time position player.
Get to work!
Abolish the electoral college if you don’t like it. The next step is to allow in every illegal immigrant so they can vote for your radical policies you so like.
Daily abortions, $5/hr jobs, poopy sidewalks in every town, socialism, every thing free free free and Dem’s in power forever! But you have to fight for it, earn it, and not just cry like a little b!tch.
Some people should get the heads out of their butts over this politically correct nonsense. History is what is it. None of these kids can change the fact that in the time of Columbus, the Europeans were vastly advanced intellectually wise. Did the indians have Michelangelo or Newton, or Van Gogh, or Leonardo Da Vinci? Of course not, History is what it is. Are we going to take Attila the Hun, Alexander the Great and the Romans out of History also? They butchered and enslaved everyone they came in contact with. I would imagine the people they wiped out wouldn't like to review those battles, would they? It is what is is, so study History as it is.
Just stating the similarity. Nothing else.
Wow! What a snowflake you must be.
I don't feel that my faith is being attacked if we point out that certain actions that were done in the name of the Catholic Church had terrible consequences or that the people behind them shouldn't be viewed as some type of benevolent figure.
That's putting it mildly. If American tribes knew how to build ships then they would have tested their own strength on those primitives to the East. The world was much less nice back then.
Nobody can portray a man of any accomplishment from the Middle Ages without incurring the wrath of a modern SJW. That's because our world does not resemble the old one and our norms don't fit theirs. The best you can try is to memorialize the pre-modern equivalent of a university activist, some monk who had the right beliefs while staying put in his cloister.
Hello ND,
I missed seeing you posting , but then again, I also have not been very active posting !
Did you not watch the vicious attacks on Judge Kavanaugh ? Have you not read criticisms of Willian Barr being a member of the K of C ? Have you not heard about certain members of Congress
Saying that Amy Barret is too dogmatic in her Catholicism to be considered for the Supreme Court ?
Many “ Catholic “ universities have covered up crosses and other religious symbols nor to “ offend “
Certain visitors or groups. How many Catholic Universities are now just about completely secular ?
Not to mention the attacks ( not strictly against Catholics ) on the Cross honoring the WW1 veterans
Killed in action. The fight to remove the Ten Commandments from our court houses. The removal of God
From our founding documents !
How about the idea of “ Alternate Life styles “ that is being taught to our children from grade school
Through college ? That is an attack on the sacredness of the traditional family. It was , and , as far as I know,
And attack on the teachings of the Church ?
I could go on and on but you get the idea !
As far as historical figures, we all know that they were certainly imperfect human beings. No argument there !
The victims, were also not perfect either. Since this post is about the indigenous population of the new world, their attacks on settlers were also very brutal.
You and I had the debate long ago about Robert E Lee. I made the argument that we admired him
For his ability as a general and how valuable he was to the nation during the reconstruction.
You simply wrote him off as a Racist.
Columbus was first and foremost an explorer! That is why we honor him. His tireless work to get funding for a sea route to the Indies was extraordinary. Once the voyage started, he faced down the fears
By his crew members of sailing off the face of the Flat Earth. The longer the voyage, the more fearful the crew up to the point of near mutiny ! Columbus persisted in spite of all opposition!
As a famous person once said: “All our heros have clay feet. “ They certainly all were influenced
By their times and environment, and were certainly not fault free.
But we honor them because of some truly great achievement by them in the history of the World !
Columbus certainly deserves that honor !
Hey! What’s “snowflake” about being butthurt by a painting? Nothing “cry baby” about that....
Or Columbus Ohio?
Or
Colombia University
Or
Columbia?
A number of places, mostly in the Western Hemisphere, have been named after Christopher Columbus, the voyager who was the first European to make the New World widely known to Europeans.
Years from now, if there is such atime, I wonderhow many of the protesters will have had whole countries named after them? Or even just a street?
It's great these people wanting to change History to be politically correct have never done a thing to hurt anyone. They must be the one to throw the first stone as they had never wronged.
Here is a coincidence of history related to Columbus . The Muslims had invaded Spain in 711 and had almost completely conquered that country with the intent of forcing all Christians to covert to Islam or become slaves Or be executed.
The Christians were driven out of most of Spain except for the mountainous region Near Santiago de Compostela.
The Christian, inspired by a vision of Santiago ( Saint James ) started the Reconquista of Spain. And , almost 800 years of bloodshed defeated the Muslims at the Battle of Granada, and finally driven all
The Muslims out of Spain in 1492.
The Christian Kings, Ferdinand and Isabel also sponsored Clumbus’ Trip to the Indies in that same year.
One can only imagine just how high religious fervor was on the part of the Christians who discovered
The New World !
The Christians were driven out of most of Spain except for the mountainous region Near Santiago de Compostela.
The Christian, inspired by a vision of Santiago ( Saint James ) started the Reconquista of Spain. And , almost 800 years of bloodshed defeated the Muslims at the Battle of Granada, and finally driven all
The Muslims out of Spain in 1492.
The Christian Kings, Ferdinand and Isabel also sponsored Clumbus’ Trip to the Indies in that same year.
One can only imagine just how high religious fervor was on the part of the Christians who discovered
The New World !
This is a generation that had all the freedoms and privilege handed to them, without any sacrifice.
They are devoid of any moral compass and absent any identity. At some point all this will demand a price be paid and seriously, does anyone think they have the will, fortitude or commitment to act in any way except self centered? There are times you need to go against self, does anyone think they can/will do this?
They are devoid of any moral compass and absent any identity. At some point all this will demand a price be paid and seriously, does anyone think they have the will, fortitude or commitment to act in any way except self centered? There are times you need to go against self, does anyone think they can/will do this?
A lot of states and cities observe it now as Indigenous Peoples' Day. I haven’t heard of Columbus Day since I was a kid. It’s rare.
Chicago, of all cities, celebrate Columbus Day, parade and all.
Looks like Indigenous Peoples Day should be cancelled too!
“Slavery among Native Americans in the United Statesincludes slavery by Native Americans as well as slavery of Native Americans roughly within the present-day United States. Tribal territories and the slave trade ranged over present-day borders. Some Native American tribes held war captives as slaves prior to and during European colonization, some Native Americans were captured and sold by others into slavery to Europeans,”
“Many Native American tribes practiced some form of slavery before the European introduction of African slavery into North America.[1]“
“Native American groups often enslaved war captives whom they primarily used for small-scale labor.[1]Others, however, were used in ritual sacrifice,[1] usually involving torture as part of religious rites, and these sometimes involved ritual cannibalism.[2]”
“Slavery among Native Americans in the United Statesincludes slavery by Native Americans as well as slavery of Native Americans roughly within the present-day United States. Tribal territories and the slave trade ranged over present-day borders. Some Native American tribes held war captives as slaves prior to and during European colonization, some Native Americans were captured and sold by others into slavery to Europeans,”
“Many Native American tribes practiced some form of slavery before the European introduction of African slavery into North America.[1]“
“Native American groups often enslaved war captives whom they primarily used for small-scale labor.[1]Others, however, were used in ritual sacrifice,[1] usually involving torture as part of religious rites, and these sometimes involved ritual cannibalism.[2]”
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this has been going on for 40+ years - people get offended by the truth; they prefer the whitewashed grade-school historical perspective, which is pretty much bullshit...
truth is, Christopher Columbus didn't discover America, or the new world - the Vikings landed in North America 5 centuries prior to that.. truth is,he thought he was in Asia...
truth is, he murdered and enslaved thousands, and is responsible for the demise of up to a quarter of a million people...
truth is, he was arrested and brought back to Spain, and stripped of his titles because of his brutality...
truth is, I never heard the truth until all these "PC" people insisted that the truth be told... now people realize that he was not the sort of man that deserves to be celebrated, rather vilified...
if my kid asks me about Christopher Columbus, I will tell him the story of a greedy, vicious, murdering colonist, and frankly, a horrible Christian and Catholic...
I'd rather perpetuate the truth than a pack of lies...
On his first day in the New World, he ordered six of the natives to be seized, writing in his journal that he believed they would be good servants. Throughout his years in the New World, Columbus enacted policies of forced labor in which natives were put to work for the sake of profits. Later, Columbus sent thousands of peaceful Taino “Indians” from the island of Hispaniola to Spain to be sold. Many died en route.
Those left behind were forced to search for gold in mines and work on plantations. Within 60 years after Columbus landed, only a few hundred of what may have been 250,000 Taino were left on their island.
As governor and viceroy of the Indies, Columbus imposed iron discipline on what is now the Caribbean country of Dominican Republic, according to documents discovered by Spanish historians in 2005. In response to native unrest and revolt, Columbus ordered a brutal crackdown in which many natives were killed; in an attempt to deter further rebellion, Columbus ordered their dismembered bodies to be paraded through the streets.
truth is, Christopher Columbus didn't discover America, or the new world - the Vikings landed in North America 5 centuries prior to that.. truth is,he thought he was in Asia...
truth is, he murdered and enslaved thousands, and is responsible for the demise of up to a quarter of a million people...
truth is, he was arrested and brought back to Spain, and stripped of his titles because of his brutality...
truth is, I never heard the truth until all these "PC" people insisted that the truth be told... now people realize that he was not the sort of man that deserves to be celebrated, rather vilified...
if my kid asks me about Christopher Columbus, I will tell him the story of a greedy, vicious, murdering colonist, and frankly, a horrible Christian and Catholic...
I'd rather perpetuate the truth than a pack of lies...
On his first day in the New World, he ordered six of the natives to be seized, writing in his journal that he believed they would be good servants. Throughout his years in the New World, Columbus enacted policies of forced labor in which natives were put to work for the sake of profits. Later, Columbus sent thousands of peaceful Taino “Indians” from the island of Hispaniola to Spain to be sold. Many died en route.
Those left behind were forced to search for gold in mines and work on plantations. Within 60 years after Columbus landed, only a few hundred of what may have been 250,000 Taino were left on their island.
As governor and viceroy of the Indies, Columbus imposed iron discipline on what is now the Caribbean country of Dominican Republic, according to documents discovered by Spanish historians in 2005. In response to native unrest and revolt, Columbus ordered a brutal crackdown in which many natives were killed; in an attempt to deter further rebellion, Columbus ordered their dismembered bodies to be paraded through the streets.
Tee ball trophies
Timeouts
No child left behind
On and on and on
What about me, what about me...
Me, myself and I has obliterated
We, us and ours
(hell our very own board is laced with people promoting sitting out the bowl games and paying the athletes. )
What can we protest today. Someone somewhere has to be offended by sonething. So let's protest.
Work? Economic contribution? Nope. They'll protest like hell though.
These fukcing weirdos with purple hair wearing a dont grab this pussy t shirt will be running the world someday.
God help us.
Timeouts
No child left behind
On and on and on
What about me, what about me...
Me, myself and I has obliterated
We, us and ours
(hell our very own board is laced with people promoting sitting out the bowl games and paying the athletes. )
What can we protest today. Someone somewhere has to be offended by sonething. So let's protest.
Work? Economic contribution? Nope. They'll protest like hell though.
These fukcing weirdos with purple hair wearing a dont grab this pussy t shirt will be running the world someday.
God help us.
The problem is we measure the hero's of the past to our standards which none can ever meet. The ancient Hebrew kings had harems. The Greeks who were the founders of western civilization condoned slavery and worshiped idols. FDR who many of the great generation revere put my uncle's American parents in a camp because they were Japanese. One hundred years today's hero's flaws will be critiqued by tomorrows citizens.
I have no problem with viewing history unfettered free from romanticism. My issue is presuming that the losers were somehow morally superior to the winners. If the losers were the winners they certainly would not act better. Just because the winners won should not take away from the achievements which include this very recognition to view history correctly. The very fact that the losers can have this conversation without being murdered which was a side effect of The Glorious Revolution should be celebrated.
Never went to college and proud of it. My boys never went to college and proud of them. They both hired on the railroad out of high school like I did. Started out at 80 grand now they both make over 100
I have a hard time banging my fists on the table about how “unfair” people are you cathokics and at the same time not feeling any empathy toward indigenous people.
bigger joke was jordan at #1. how can he be #1 when he failed miserably in his baseball pursuit ?
Where is the lack of empathy for anyone or any group ? I clearly state that we honor flawed human beings For outstanding achievements , in Columbus’ Case it was for his being a great Navagator and explorer.
We could devote our time to a whole different argument as to the brutality of Columbus ,the Conquistadors, and all the settlers of North and South America against indigenous people.
While we are at it we can discuss the brutality of the indigenous people toward not only the settlers , but towards one another.
They also enslaved their enemies , burned people at the stake, held human sacrifices, etc, etc.
Two very different debates !
Columbia University changed its name after the revolutionary war to Columbia as a reference to a latin term used in Europe that described the Great American frontier, not as an honor to Columbus.
Lol. Settlers were an invading force on indigenous people's land. That is part of taking land away from people.
