Campus

A Prayer for Unity, Walk for Justice

Notre Dame community gathers in support of unity and racial justice

June 1, 2020

Remarks by University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.

We gather tonight to reflect on the death of George Floyd. If it were only Mr. Floyd’s death, it would be a great injustice and tragedy. But there are many other deaths to remember. Emmett Till, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr., Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Freddie Grey, the nine people shot dead at a Charleston in 2015 by Dylann Roof, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and the many, many nameless black men who were lynched over the centuries. We gather tonight to reflect not just on police violence against a single man in Minneapolis, but on a legacy of violence, often conducted with impunity, against black people in our nation. We confront the heavy burden of a legacy of racism.

That is why I find it so hard to know what to say to you tonight. If it were only a matter of a bad police officer, and bad police tactics in Minneapolis, we might know how to respond. These were present in Mr. Floyd’s case, but to focus only on those facts is to miss the point, to miss the reason for the outrage. The challenge is deeper, more enduring, more tragic and more daunting. It is difficult to find words adequate to respond to that challenge.

I will say this. To black colleagues, students and friends: I am so sorry for the pain you are suffering. Several of you told me you wept when you saw the terrible video from Minneapolis. No doubt there has been a mixture of sadness, rage and despair as these killings go on. We are all responsible for combating the legacy of racism, but its burden falls on you. You no doubt have felt the weight of that burden intensely in the past week. I am sorry.

I know you join me in acknowledging with gratitude the dedicated police officers who do dangerous jobs and put their lives on the line to keep us safe. Whatever our reaction to Mr. Floyd’s death, it must not be to smear the work and reputation of the thousands of good officers who serve us. Yet we must all insist that no one is allowed to commit injustice in the name of our safety. We must not stand for it.

We take hope from many of the protests of the past week. As Cornel West has said, the worst outcome of Mr. Floyd’s death would perhaps have been that no one protested, if there were no outcry. We need an outcry. We need to advocate for justice.

Our outcry, however, must not give way to violence. As welcome as protests have been, the violence, the burning, the shooting will not serve the cause of justice. It will only perpetuate the violence.

I had the chance to speak with Diane Nash, the holder of a Notre Dame honorary degree and the speaker for our Martin Luther King Day remembrance this past January. She organized nonviolent protests in the south in the 1960s that led to desegregation. Ms. Nash lamented that some recent protests led to sprees of violence. “When we protested,” she said, “we did not allow those who wanted to do violence to participate.”  Ms. Nash and her colleagues led some of the most consequential protests in the history of the United States.

Perhaps, though, the message is not only that we should not allow violence into protests, but we should not allow violence and hatred into our hearts. We should be angry, but we should not let the hatred that leads to violence take hold in our hearts. It not only destroys us, but makes us less effective in serving our cause.

As I said earlier, I struggled with what to tell you tonight. I doubt my words have been adequate to the challenge before us, but perhaps prayer and God’s help can make up for the deficiencies. Let us ask for justice, for an end to the legacy of racism, for an end to violence in our streets and in our hearts and for the wisdom to know what to do and the courage to do it.

In the reading for this evening the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, comes as a powerful wind that howls and jostles those in the room. We need that wind to jostle us out of our complacency. The Holy Spirit comes as fire, to burn in the hearts of those to whom it is given. Let us pray for the wind and the fire of the Holy Spirit, and ask God to guide us as we struggle to confront the terrible legacy of the racial violence seen in the ugly video from Minneapolis.

Let us pray for Mr. Floyd. Let us pray for his grieving family and friends. Let us pray for our black colleagues and friends. Let us pray for an awakening in the hearts of those of us who are white to demand an end to the legacy of racial violence. Let us pray for our nation.

With the image of “Christ the Teacher” on the south façade of Hesburgh Library as a backdrop, University of Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., urged members of the campus community Monday evening (June 1) to recommit to and pray for unity and racial justice in our nation.

Organized by the Office of the President and by Campus Ministry, the “Prayer for Unity, Walk for Justice” event on the Library Quad came amid the turmoil following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, and the subsequent peaceful and violent protests there and in many other cities and towns nationwide.

Father John stands at a podium.
President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. at the Prayer for Unity, Walk for Justice: a prayer service and march in recognition of racial violence and injustice.

In remarks to more than 1,000 attendees on campus and many more online, Father Jenkins remembered tragedies of the past, including the deaths of Emmett Till, Medgar Evers and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., as well as those of more recent times, from Eric Garner to Breonna Taylor to the congregants of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

“We gather tonight not just to reflect on police violence against a single man in Minneapolis,” Father Jenkins said, “but on a legacy of violence, often conducted with impunity, against black men in our nation. We confront the heavy burden of a legacy of racism.”

In preparing his remarks, Father Jenkins said he found it difficult to find the right words.

“If it were only a matter of a bad police officer, and bad police tactics in Minneapolis, we might know how to respond,” he said. “These were present in Mr. Floyd’s case, but to focus only on those facts is to miss the point, to miss the reason for the outrage. The challenge is deeper, more enduring, more tragic and more daunting. It is difficult to find words adequate to respond to that challenge.

“I will say this. To black colleagues, students and friends: I am so sorry for the pain you are suffering. Several of you told me you wept when you saw the terrible video from Minneapolis. No doubt there has been a mixture of sadness, rage and despair as these killings go on. We are all responsible for combating the legacy of racism, but its burden falls on you. You no doubt have felt the weight of that burden intensely in the past week. I am sorry.”

Father Jenkins and Shibata lead a group people.
A group of people wearing masks march together.

Father Jenkins and Shibata led participants on a walk for justice from the Main Quad to the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes to leave candles and pray individually for unity and justice.

Father Jenkins acknowledged the dedication of police officers who put their lives on the line daily, and urged people to not allow the actions of the few to “smear the work and reputation of the thousands of good officers who serve us.”

He took hope from the protests of the past week. “We need an outcry,” he said.

But, he added, “As welcome as protests have been, the violence, the burning, the shooting will not serve the cause of justice. It will only perpetuate the violence.” 

“Perhaps, though,” he continued, “the message is not only that we should not allow violence into protests, but we should not allow violence and hatred into our hearts. We should be angry, but we should not let the hatred that leads to violence take hold in our hearts. It not only destroys us, but makes us less effective in serving our cause.”

The president concluded by saying, “Let us pray for Mr. Floyd. Let us pray for his grieving family and friends. Let us pray for our black colleagues and friends. Let us pray for an awakening in the hearts of those of us who are white to demand an end to the legacy of racial violence. Let us pray for our nation.”

The “Prayer for Unity, Walk for Justice” was led by Rev. Pete McCormick, C.S.C., director of Campus Ministry, and included a welcome from Arnel Bulaoro, Notre Dame’s interim director of Multicultural Student Programs and Services; an opening prayer from Jo Cecilio, the rector of Cavanaugh Hall; a reading from Acts 2:1-11 by 2020 Notre Dame graduate Christian Arega; intercessions as read by Notre Dame Police Department Chief Keri Kei Shibata; remarks from Jeff Musema, the incoming president of Wabruda; and a closing prayer from Rev. Hugh R. Page Jr., vice president and associate provost.

People wearing masks kneel to pray at the Grotto.
Father Jenkins and others pray at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Following the event on the Library Quad, Father Jenkins and Shibata led participants on a walk for justice from the Main Quad to the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes to leave candles and pray individually for unity and justice.

Participants and attendees in the service were asked to abide by social distancing guidelines and wear masks as part of the University’s commitment to health and safety in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.