Abstract

Jesuit colleges and universities in the US have been striving to become anti-racist. This work is often tied to mission and to a shared commitment to Jesuit and Catholic values like a faith that does justice and the dignity of all persons. At the same time, however, many Jesuit institutions frame their commitment to anti-racism in language that does not appeal to specific aspects of Jesuit tradition; likewise, mission and Jesuit identity is often described in ways that make no overt reference to anti-racism. A robust anti-racism, I argue, arises necessarily out of Jesuit Catholic thought, and fully realized Jesuit institutions must work to become anti-racist. There are powerful reasons to think that cura personalis (care of the person) must be grounded in the Incarnation to be distinctively Jesuit. The Incarnation, in turn, provides profound theological justification for anti-racism. My argument is that if we take both of those ideas seriously, then we cannot strive to embody cura personalis without working to become anti-racist; and our anti-racism must be based upon the Incarnation to be fully grounded in our mission. Finally, if cura personalis is a distinctive feature of Jesuit education, then anti-racism must be as well.