Descendants of the slaves who built St Louis University are demanding billions of dollars for unpaid labor by their ancestors.
During an event held on campus Thursday, Labor Economist Julianne Malveaux said the descendants of Henrietta Mills and Charles Chauvin are owed between $365 million to $70 billion.
"That's just wages, that doesn't account for all of the other things that occurred during enslavement,"Malveaux said." That doesn't account for pain and suffering, rapes, or bodily mutilation. It just accounts for the actual wages."
Henrietta Mills and Charles Chauvin were married slaves owned by St Louis University Jesuits. Their descendants joined Civil Rights attorney Areva Martin for during the campus event which featured a teach in about how Jesuits used slave labor.
“St. Louis University, you know who the descendants are and you now have the information required to make true reconciliation and make history,” Martin said. “We’re calling on you today to give the descendants of a real and substantive role in the pathway forward and to make a commitment to honor their ancestors, their labor, and their contributions.”
St Louis University responded in a statement that said:
“At this point, we can affirm that we understand and share the sense of urgency expressed by several members of the descendant community.
SLU’s participation in the institution of slavery was a grave sin. We acknowledge that progress on our efforts to reconcile with this shameful history has been slow, and we regret the hurt and frustration this has caused.”
The statement went on to say that continuing the work, without giving specific details.
” As we move forward, we hope to re-establish and build deeper relationships with all descendant families to explore together how best to honor the memory of those who were enslaved by the Jesuits.”