In this article, delivered originally in 1998 at Marquette University, the author confronts the reality of racism by introducing the need for racial reconciliation. Addressing such issues as social structures and evangelical approaches to the question of race, Massingale ends with a critique of the approach of Catholic theologians and ethicists to racial justice. In the end, Massingale remarks that for Catholics the legacy of slavery continues to hinder an openness to the reality of Africans and African Americans in the Church and in society.