The descendants of slaves sold to save Georgetown University are calling for the reparations they deserve. Of course, University officials have apologized for the sale back in 1838. However, talk is cheap, and these descendants are demanding Georgetown put their money where their mouth is.

The Washington Post reports that despite the university's attempt to make amends, GU272 Isaac Hawkins Legacy group is arguing that Georgetown owes its existence to money made from the sale of 272 enslaved people. The group's lead counsel Georgia Goslee says that Georgetown is now a thriving, elite university with a substantial endowment.

In other words, give us what you owe us.

It's no secret that most greatly endowed and elite systems in the United States have been built on the backs of slaves. At Georgetown, that history shows itself in the fact that Jesuit priests in Maryland sold 272 slaves in 1838, using the money to help pay off debts at the then-struggling school. 

“Since 2015, Georgetown has been working to address its historical relationship to slavery and will continue to do so,” said Meghan Dubyak, a university spokeswoman. “Georgetown has taken initial steps to seek reconciliation, beginning with offering a formal apology to descendants; renaming two buildings, including one for Isaac Hawkins . . . and offering descendants the same consideration in admissions that it gives members of the Georgetown community.”

The Gu272 Isaac Hawkins Legacy Group includes 200 people and is asking for a direct benefit for descendants which really doesn't seem like too much to ask considering the circumstances. 

"Georgetown and the Jesuits are committed to working with descendants in a process that recognizes the terrible legacy of slavery and promotes racial justice in southern Louisiana, southern Maryland and throughout the nation," Dubyak said. "We believe that this kind of collaborative, forward-looking approach is the best path toward reconciliation and responding to the challenges of racial injustice today.”

In a letter written by Georgetown's vice president and chief of staff Joseph Ferrara, he proposes a draft set of principles for working together. 

"We write today to share a proposed way forward for a long-term partnership between our communities and to seek your assistance in engaging additional Descendants as we work to create opportunities for engagement on these ideas," the letter reads. 

"Since 2016, we have met with many of you and heard many important ideas on ways we might work together," the letter continues. "Our conversations have reinforced the importance of building a strong and lasting framework for dialogue, partnership, and collaboration among the Descendants, Georgetown, and the Jesuits. We believe that developing this framework from a set of guiding principles can enable us to work together on important ideas over the long-term. Our histories are inextricably linked and, in that spirit, we seek ways to move forward together."

Goslee responded to the letter graciously stating, “Dialogue is always a good thing. But we can talk forever while the descendants are languishing, literally dying and in poor health and suffering from the vestiges of slavery . . . If there is real genuine concern, let’s take action.”

In other words, don't talk about it, be about it. Righting your wrongs won't hurt your pockets that much, and talking about it won't make it right.