Five years after the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer sparked protests across the United States and ignited calls for racial justice, Catholic leaders gathered for a virtual panel discussion sponsored by Georgetown University to reflect on the nation’s racial reckoning and its intersection with faith and Catholic social teaching.
The June 10 discussion, titled “What Happened to America’s Racial Reckoning? Faith, Justice, and Catholic Social Teaching Five Years after the Killing of George Floyd,“ featured author and professor Dr. Marcia Chatelain; Ralph McCloud, former director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development; Catholic commentator and journalist Gloria Purvis; and Father Manuel Williams, a priest of the Congregation of the Resurrection who serves as the director of Resurrection Catholic Missions of the South and pastor of Resurrection Catholic Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
The event was hosted by Georgetown’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life.
The panelists spoke candidly about the ongoing struggle for racial justice in both the Church and the nation, expressing frustration at what they described as spiritual blindness, political polarization, and institutional complicity.
“We cannot deny that there’s a spiritual blindness among a large number of Catholics who identify as devout and pro-life with regard to racism,” Purvis said. She emphasized that racism must be understood not only as a political or social problem but as a grave sin. “If we understand racism as a grave sin, we understand our participation in it in any way jeopardizes our eternal soul,” she said.
McCloud, who spoke during a similar dialogue hosted by Georgetown shortly after Floyd’s death in 2020, reflected on the continued trauma experienced by Black Americans. “My emotions of anger and frustration are a constant,” he said, recalling that his nephew, who had been shot by police and paralyzed, has since died due to those injuries.
“We talk a lot about having ‘the talk’,” McCloud added, referring to conversations Black parents have with their children about how to navigate encounters with law enforcement.
Father Williams noted that while Floyd’s death initially sparked broad and multiracial outrage, the momentum for systemic change quickly diminished. “An opportunity for a real cogent, substantive conversation was abated,” he said, adding that both COVID-19 and entrenched resistance contributed to the fading dialogue.
Chatelain – who is a professor of Africana studies at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America” – criticized what she described as corporate attempts to commodify the tragedy of Floyd’s death with surface-level gestures rather than addressing systemic failures.
“A sector of our society suggested that a human life is the same thing as recognition of Black History Month, hiring a few Black executives, or saying that this furniture company says ‘Black Lives Matter.’ It’s not only insulting but the personification of the degradation of human life in our culture,” she said.
The panelists also addressed the broader structures of systemic racism, including environmental injustice, voter suppression, and economic disparity. Purvis cited Lowndes County, Alabama, where poor infrastructure has led to widespread hookworm infections due to untreated sewage, as an example of environmental racism exacerbated by political decisions.
“These are deliberate decisions that are sinful, that then build structures that are sinful,” Purvis said.
Throughout the discussion, the panelists stressed the need for Catholics to prioritize their allegiance to the Gospel over partisan loyalties. “Your allegiance has to be to Jesus Christ, period, full stop,” Purvis said. “You cannot hold your critique of either political party. You should critique wherever they don’t align with the Gospel, and frankly, neither party does.”
Father Williams emphasized the importance of building and sustaining Black Catholic institutions, calling them vital to resisting erasure and fostering community resilience.
Despite their sobering assessments, the panelists concluded with cautious hope for the future. McCloud expressed encouragement in seeing young people continue to advocate for justice. “I’m often inspired by young people who seek a brighter day,” he said. “Despite some of the obstacles they run into, I’m inspired by some of them.”
Purvis added, “The battle is already won. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and is inviting us to be with him, and there’s always the opportunity for repentance and conversion.”
The event served as part of Georgetown’s ongoing series exploring Catholic social teaching and the role of faith in public life.
The full panel discussion can be viewed on Georgetown’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life YouTube channel.
