#OTD in 1965, Fr. Harold Perry, SVD was appointed the auxiliary bishop of New Orleans, becoming the 1st self-identified #BlackCatholic bishop in the US. At his ordination, white Catholic segregationists jeered & spat at him in the name of God. #BlackHistoryIsCatholicHistory

Five years earlier, the same group of white Catholic women led the opposition to the desegregation of NOLA's public schools. Every day, the "cheerleaders," as they were known, threatened 6-year old Ruby Bridges & the four other Black girls tasked w/ upholding democracy w/ death.

For more reading on the story of massive white Catholic resistance to desegregation in LA, see Rebecca Bruckmann's "Citizens' Councils, Conservatism and Whtie Supremacy in Louisiana, 1964-1972."

https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/14437 

#CatholicHistoryIsBlackHistory