Nearly two centuries ago, the Jesuit priests who founded and ran what is now Georgetown University sold 272 people to keep the college afloat. Men. Women. Children. Babies. Many wept as they were loaded onto the ships. Three years ago, I told their story. nyti.ms/1qwGoor
This week, Georgetown announced that it would establish a fund to benefit the descendants of those enslaved people. It is the first major American university to take a stab at reparations. I never thought I would see this in my lifetime. nyti.ms/2q2aKEU
Some people might wonder why a journalist might spend so much time digging in the 19th century. It's because this history lives with us, reverberates in our times. It's because slavery was the engine that fueled the growth of so many of our contemporary institutions. 
The buying, selling and owning of human beings in America. Yes, individuals certainly profited from slavery. But so did some of our churches and convents. nyti.ms/2YCwxlX
Banks. Railroads. Colleges. Insurance companies. Slavery helped to fuel their growth. This is something we all should know. But we don't. I think a lot about that these days. About what we know and what we don't know. Why don't we know? nyti.ms/2i37DTE
We all need to know about Cornelius, the 13-year old boy who was sold and torn from the world he knew to save the first Catholic college. This is hard history. But it is our history. To understand America, we need to know his story. And to know that there were so many like him.
There's a reckoning happening. I never thought I'd see it. Virginia Theological Seminary created a reparations fund. Princeton Theological Seminary. Now, Georgetown. People will debate whether this is good or bad or enough. But the reckoning is real. nyti.ms/32Bumxr
This morning, I told my 12-year-old son that Georgetown was establishing a fund to benefit the descendants of the enslaved people I've been writing about for three years now. He nodded, like it was the most ordinary thing in the world. I smiled and marveled and went back to work.
I think a lot these days about public memory. Why are we, as Americans, so unaware of our own history? I don't know the answer to that. But one thing I do know is that historians are out there researching and writing, doing the work, and I am so very grateful to them for that.
How do we ensure that Americans know and understand that slavery fueled the growth of so many of our contemporary institutions? Sometimes I think I really should be focusing on textbooks, middle school textbooks.
