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August 14, 2020In the first segment of this three-part series, it was revealed that Bishop McGuinness prohibited segregation in Catholic schools in 1954. The complex issues of segregation and integration would prove to be a minefield throughout the 1960s.
In truth, the Jim Crow laws in the South of “separate but equal” were anything but equal. Educationally and culturally, inequality reigned supreme. The Church was obliged to explore how to remove segregation from the churches in Oklahoma. Bishop Reed was profoundly distressed about the existence of essentially all-white and all-black schools and churches.
In 1963, he made Saint Peter Claver Church (Oklahoma City’s African-American parish) a mission of Corpus Christi. Blessed Martin de Porres School remained open until 1965 with the children being moved to Corpus Christi Catholic School. The response of both communities was largely antagonistic. A number of parishioners from Saint Peter Claver argued that the African-American heritage of the Church was being dismantled by its closing in 1965.
Parishioners desired to maintain that heritage not destroy it. Forty years of hard work and the building up of that community appeared to many as being for naught. A large number left the Catholic faith never to return feeling unwelcome and unwanted.
Corpus Christi Catholic School did indeed have some black families before the merger but not many. When the school integrated, 40 white families departed and racially charged tensions ran high. Saint Monica Catholic School and Saint Augustine Catholic School in Tulsa feared that their fate would be similar to that of Saint Peter Claver and wrote a letter to Bishop Reed expressing their consternation. Calling on the Second Vatican Council and its emphasis on lay participation, the people asked why this did not apply to them. With that statement, their frustration came to the fore as there was no consultation.
An underlying sense of being patronized due to a fundamental disregard for the legitimacy of their community was at the heart of their distress. With doubtless good intentions, Bishop Reed ironically had created larger and more perplexing problems.
There were, however, some success stories. Holy Family Cathedral School in Tulsa successfully integrated due to creative staffing. The Sisters of Divine Providence had been the religious order in charge of the school. With the Sisters of the Holy Family withdrawing from Saint Monica Catholic School, several African-American sisters were added to the faculty. It was decided that a sister from each community should alternate as principal every three years.
Seeing the example of the Sisters, the children interacted well as equals on the playground and the classroom. Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Tulsa also experienced a degree of accomplishment in uniting the black and white communities to provide a quality education in a poor (educationally and economically) school district.
During that difficult and challenging time, the Church sought to “do the right thing” and as President Lincoln once stated, “appeal to our better angels.” However, its efforts sometimes fell short and lacked a broader vision.
Photo: Corpus Christi procession circa 1970
