Very often, there are issues we are
forced to confront that we did not know were
controversial, solutions searching for a
problem. One of these is the recent removal of
a painting of Black Jesus—with a twist.
The painting in question is Kelly
Latimore’s “Mama,” a 2020 work displayed at the
Catholic University of America in Washington,
DC. The artists decided to portray Jesus and
his mother Mary as Black people with golden
halos. And Jesus bears a striking resemblance
to George Floyd, the Black man who was choked
to death by a police officer in Minneapolis in
2020. That Black man’s death precipitated a
worldwide outrage over police violence and
systemic racism, with millions upon millions
of people participating in protests from
Minneapolis to Atlanta, from Paris to London,
and from Tokyo to Tel Aviv.
Because the lynching of a Black man at
the hands of an oppressive state--in broad
daylight with everyone there witnessing it--
has a way of changing the world, you know?
Two prints of “Mama” were stolen from Catholic University, and a petition circulated by White Christian
nationalist conservative students demanded the
removal of the artistic work on the grounds it
is “disrespectful” and “sacrilegious.” The
petition also stated is is “extremely grave”
that the university “would cast another in the
image of our Lord in this way, particularly
for political purposes.” One student even referred to the artwork as
“just another symptom of the liberalization
and secularization of our campus.”
According to a resolution which passed in
the student government senate, “The purpose of
sacred art is not to make a political
statement but to promote worship, adoration,
and faith ‘in the transcendent mystery of
God’.” The resolution continued, “There are
other paintings and icons that do a much
better job at making a genuine, good faith
effort to reflect the universality of the
Catholic Church that also do not divide and
confuse the university and larger Catholic
community.”
An icon evoking George Floyd was
installed in February at the Catholic
University of America, which is run by the
bishops and barred Blacks during Jim Crow. Last week, the image was stolen—as
details of its installation vanished from the
school website (Black
Catholic Messenger, December 1, 2021).
Those who would consider the depiction of
George Floyd as the son of God as blasphemous
must ask themselves whether George Floyd as
Jesus is more offensive to them than any
brother as Jesus. It probably does not matter.
What is blasphemous is that the White church
set the stage for the colonization,
enslavement and genocide of indigenous Black and Brown
people in Africa, Asia and the Americas.
What is blasphemous is that institutions
such as the Catholic University of America
once excluded Black students, and that Georgetown
University once owned slaves and operated Jesuit
slave plantations to make money for the school.
Ultimately, the Catholic University
incident is not merely about whether Jesus was
Black, because he was, but rather about
whether White Christians worship whiteness or
Jesus. Outraged White students who catch the
vapors over Black Jesus are telling on
themselves.
