Descendants Of Enslaved People Who Helped Build Saint Louis University Reject Formal Apology, Calling It ‘Performative’

The descendants back out after feeling disrespected by the school's approved reparations.

Descendants of the enslaved people who helped build St. Louis University have backed out of an apology event at the school.

The Descendants of the St. Louis University Enslaved, a nonprofit organization, made the call not to participate hours before the event’s start time. The coalition deemed the apology as “performative,” resulting in their refusal to attend. SLU is a private Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri.

“For five years, we have done everything they asked us to do … but what we will not do is become a photo op so they can go and parade us around and act like we are in alignment with what they are doing,” said Robin Proudie, executive director of the nonprofit, as reported by St. Louis Public Radio. “We want them to engage with us in a sincere manner, and we didn’t feel that this apology was really about us.”

Issues arose when ongoing discussions about reparations appeared to stall. The university started discussing with the descendants following a teach-in conducted in 2024.

Days ahead of the formal apology, Proudie inquired about an update on the matter. The school refused to disclose what they could offer until hours before the event. Moreover, they would not approve a monetary allotment.

“We asked them, ‘What were they going to do?’ They told us a monument, a public apology and a report, and that wasn’t in conjunction with what we all talked about,” Proudie said. “A core element of that was a way to repair in terms of financial or economic empowerment, and they told us that was totally off the table.”

As attendees headed into St. Francis Xavier College Church, they were met with a note apologizing for the abrupt postponement. The letter detailed the school’s hopes to continue working with the descendants on a resolution.

“This postponement does not signal an end to our engagement with reconciliation efforts,” wrote SLU President Fred Pestello. “We remain hopeful for the future.”

The descendants, however, feel like their ancestor’s work remains unappreciated, given the school’s refusal to grant substantive reparations. The group claimed the school owed $74 billion in unpaid labor. They also referred to the commitments made during SLU’s Slavery, History, Memory, and Reconciliation Project almost a decade ago.

“It made me feel like they don’t see us, they don’t care about us, the same way they did when they enslaved our ancestors,” said Eric Proudie. “How can you enslave a person? You have no compassion, no understanding. You don’t recognize them as a person, and that’s how they made me feel when they did this.”

While acknowledging the move as a significant setback, the group’s attorney remains hopeful that reparations through economic means and more will occur.

“There’s a new president coming in, so we see it as a new opportunity for that new president to bring some different kind of leadership, hopefully, to this process and to move it forward,” explained Areva Martin. “This is not the end.”

However, it is unclear where the two parties currently stand regarding further discussion of the matter.