Free Press article from July 23 , 1992 , a black housepainter claims he climbed his work ladder and painted the statue the morning of Monday , July 24 , out of frustration with past injustices . “ Would they still pray if Christ was black ?” Nelson recalls asking himself . “ No one saw him as he painted ,” claims the article .
But precious primary sources — handwritten notes by Monsignor Canfield himself — are the most accurate accounting of the event , and the newspaper report does not correspond well with the notes .
According to Canfield , on Sunday , July 23 , “ 3 Negro men paint statue brown . Observed by seminary faculty and a lady living nearby .” In his August 10 article in the Michigan Catholic , seminary professor Msgr . William Sherzer elaborates : “ We do know that a white woman who left her apartment across the street to protest the painting to the painter was told by the painter that the streets were dangerous as he courteously escorted her back to the door of her apartment building .” From this quotation , it seems the intention of the painter or painters was benign ( although illegal ): an attempt at expressing racial pride .
Remarkably , this was the only intrusion onto seminary property during the five days of chaos ( although Fr . Louis Grandpre , while watching the rioting from the bell tower , was mistaken for a sniper and shot at by state troopers ). Father Grandpre , a resident priest , believed the statue became a type of marker , indicating to the rioters “ to leave this building alone .”
Msgr . Edward Baldwin and Fr . Paul Berg , also living on-site at the time , recalled feeling little apprehension . “ We were like an island isolate ,” said Baldwin . “ It was as if it was taking place elsewhere ,
“ APPROVAL OR REPUGNANCE AT THE STATUE ’ S PAINTING DID NOT DIVIDE ALONG RACIAL LINES , AS WOULD BE EXPECTED .”
on TV . We didn ’ t feel threatened ,” said Berg . [ These quotations are from interviews from 2007 . The three priests have since passed away .]
A SIGN OF CONTENTION
Five decades have gone by , and the identity of the painter may never be known , lost in the mist of history . Because it was summer , there were no students and only a few resident priests on campus to be witnesses .
But this much is known : the public reaction to the painting was emotional and polarized . For weeks afterward , letters streamed into the Michigan Catholic commenting on the painted statue featured on the front cover of the July 27 issue . Some comments were positive : “ I believe the statue should be maintained permanently as such and rededicated as the ‘ Black Jesus .’ It would be a good idea to erect a plaque on the base recalling the events of the past week .”
“ God is ‘ all things to all people .’ I ’ m sure the person who painted Christ black meant to say the same thing .” Some comments were not positive : “ What do we gain by approving and finding clumsy excuses for the painted statue ? I say clean it back to what it was .”
“ I pity those misguided souls who think Detroit ’ s problems can be solved by painting a statue of Christ black . Condoning or ignoring illegal acts such as this only perpetuates the sickness in Detroit .”
Approval or repugnance at the statue ’ s painting did not divide along racial lines , as would be expected . Monsignor Sherzer in his article remarks that “ A number of phone calls have been received at the seminary from Negro neighbors asking that the black paint be rubbed off .” A Free Press article from September 9 calls the statue
“ a symbol of ambivalence that still bothers the seminary ’ s mostly well-to-do West Side Negro neighbors .” The article quotes Monsignor Canfield , who mentions that a group of black women from Dexter-Davidson Homeowners Association offered to come to the seminary and clean it up .
After some debate among the resident priests , the attitude at the seminary settled into one of acceptance if not endorsement . “ Most of us here ,” says Canfield in the article , “ interpreted it not so much as an act of vandalism as a gesture that the Negro wanted to feel Christ was for him as well as for the white man .” In his typewritten commentary about the event , Canfield explains further , “ The people in the neighborhood of the Seminary apparently were saying , ‘ Christ is our God too .’ If our Negro brothers in the Seminary area want Him represented in a way that makes His message of universal brotherhood more meaningful to them , it would be unChristian to deny them their desire .”
Fr . William Kienzle , who was editor of the Michigan Catholic and lived at the seminary , echoes Canfield ’ s sentiments . He writes in the July 27 edition , “ The statue was not defaced , but very carefully and deliberately painted . It should have been done long ago .”
BACK TO BLACK
But the controversy surrounding Black Jesus was far from over as the 1967-68 school year began . Monsignor Canfield ’ s handwritten note gives the date of Thursday , September 14 , at 9:30 PM , for this event : “ Statue painted white by three white men .” The identity of the men is unknown , but the black-owned Michigan Chronicle speculates in a September 30 article that the whitewashers were associated with Breakthrough , a militant white organization , whose rally had ended around that time of night .
The reaction by some African Americans in the community was immediate and , frankly , provocative , although not surprising considering the hair-trigger racial tensions of the time . Canfield ’ s remarks in the September 9 Free Press article , which are supported by his notations , state that the next day , September 15 , a loudspeaker truck began cruising the
38 Sacred Heart Major Seminary | Mosaic | Fall 2017