Memorial of Saint Peter Claver, Priest

Lectionary: 436

You once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds; God has now reconciled you in the fleshly Body of Christ through his death, to present you holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before him....


The Roman Catholic Church today celebrates the memorial of Saint Peter Claver (1581-1654), a Spanish Jesuit. He is remembered for his ministry to African slaves as they arrived in Cartagena, Columbia. 
    Hugh Thomas, in his book, The Slave Trade, says that slavery in Europe had nearly disappeared before Columbus and the Spanish empire invaded the Americas. However, with an amazing new technology -- the refinement of sugar -- and the sudden emergence of a market for sweets, slavery reappeared. 
    Sugar was cheap and everybody, rich and poor alike, wanted it. Confections and candies of every sort appeared, each one demanding more sweetening. Traditional sweet fruits like figs and dates could not begin to satisfy the demand. Distilled alcohol also wanted tons of sugar. Beer, wine and cider might satisfy the thirst but they could not relieve the demand of the esthete; much less, the craving of the alcoholic. Whatever the cost Europe and, eventually, the whole world, wanted sugar, cheap sugar. 
    The first sugar cane plantations appeared during the sixteenth century in South America, using locally captured peoples. However, problems developed as the natives fled back to their homes or died of the cruel labor. European planters soon discovered that African slaves, purchased from Muslim traders, were hardier and had less incentive to escape. 
    An adult male could survive ten years in the South American fields. There was no need to import women since their children would not be mature enough to work the plantations in less than ten years. If the Atlantic Ocean weather was fair the slave ships could arrive within a few weeks of leaving Africa, with a healthy cargo. Inclement weather could wreak havoc on the slaves, the sailors and the European investors. Lloyds of London sometimes took a hit when ships foundered. Investors in the slave trade, like today's investors in weapons and tobacco, suffered no scruples about their interests. Not many got rich but the business was prosperous. In any case, few people saw what Saint Peter Claver encountered as the ships arrived.
    Eventually the Enlightenment would catch up with the industry. A new idea -- that "all men are created equal" -- troubled thoughtful people. They were reluctant to give up their investments in a huge, multinational industry and the craving for sugar showed no signs of abating (ever!) But black slaves were starting to appear in "polite" society. The English were the first to object. They tried to stop slave owners from bringing their chattel home but found that was impossible. They would have to stop the trade altogether, first among English ships, then among Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian and, after 1776, American ships. The most powerful navy on Earth had the wherewithal for this massive struggle but it took centuries. 
    You remember that the "free states" of the United States suffered the same moral conflict after the Dred Scott decision. Southern slave owners had the legal right to bring their slaves to any state in the union. That Supreme Court decision, under the leadership of Roger B. Taney (the first Catholic supreme court judge) made the Civil War inevitable. (Thomas Jefferson saw it coming long before that.) 
    152 years after the end of the Civil War, the Original Sin of racism remains on the American soul. Given the long struggle to suppress legal slavery -- from 1492-1865 -- that should be no surprise. Many Americans have lived with the illusion that racism was a thing of the passed. As Colonel Jessep said in the movie, A Few Good Men, Americans "can't handle the truth!" 
    Today's celebration of Saint Peter Claver reminds the world that the original sin of slavery persists. So long as people want something (e.g sugar) for less than its actual costs, it will remain.