Dialogue on Race Program: Inside DTRF’s First Cohort

This summer, seven Descendants and seven Jesuits convened at DTRF offices in Baton Rouge for a weekend of healing. Together, they made up the first cohort of our Dialogue on Race program, where these two groups together confront their shared, painful history and begin building genuine and honest relationships. Developed in collaboration with Dialogue on Race Louisiana, the program insists that honest dialogue is a powerful force for transformation. Through facilitated conversations and guided listening, participants are invited to hear and share their many truths.

The in-person convening was followed by four online gatherings. For many participants, this was the first time they had engaged directly with one another around the legacy of Jesuit slaveholding. Their conversations were wide-ranging and complex, with explorations of how race has been historically constructed, how whiteness has shaped our institutions, and how language and silence have sustained racial inequity for generations. 

Then, the dialogue moved from analysis into the personal:
 

Descendants shared lived experiences, in some cases with Jesuits who had never heard these stories spoken aloud. As Jesuits listened, they grappled with the meaning of inheriting a legacy marked by such violence and exploitation.

While the structured sessions were central to the program, healing also took place in less formal moments. Participants' relationships deepened over shared meals, conversations in car rides from the airport, and walks through Baton Rouge. These everyday interactions allowed them to see one another as whole human beings navigating the consequences of their pasts, not just as representatives of their history. These moments created space for connection, helping move reconciliation from an abstract idea to a lived reality.