The
Matter of Black Lives![]() Please Know That...The Proverbial White Man Has Apologized (But Was Kept Secretly Hidden From White and Black US Citizens) |
Finally In June 2008, After 145
Years of Black Leaders Demanding It and Not Receiving It, The Proverbial
White Man, On Behalf of All White Citizens, By Congressional Resolution,
Acknowledged, Apologized, Asked Forgiveness, and Reconciliation For
Generations-Destroying, Chattel Slavery and Jim Crowism. This Resolution Document Is The Part II of the January 1, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln's Executive Ordered Emancipation Proclamation |
US House of
Representatives Authored
by The Hon. US Congressman, Steve Cohen,
Resolution Apologizing For Slavery and Segregation
The
full text of the
slavery measure, House Resolution 194, is as follows: 1. Whereas millions of Africans and their descendants
were enslaved in the United
States and the 13 American colonies from
1619 through 1865;
2. Whereas slavery in
3. Whereas Africans forced into slavery were
brutalized, humiliated, dehumanized, and
subjected to the indignity of being stripped of
their names and heritage; 4. Whereas enslaved families were torn apart after
having been sold separately from one
another;
5.
Whereas the system of slavery and the visceral racism against persons of
African descent upon which it depended became entrenched in the Nation's
social fabric;
6. Whereas slavery was not officially abolished until
the passage of the 13th
Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865
after the end of the
Civil War,
which was fought over the slavery issue;
7.
Whereas after emancipation from 246 years of
slavery, African-Americans soon saw
the fleeting political, social, and economic
gains they made during Reconstruction
eviscerated by virulent racism, lynchings,
disenfranchisement, Black Codes, and
racial segregation laws that imposed a rigid system
of officially sanctioned racial
segregation in virtually
all areas of life; 8. Whereas the system of de jure racial segregation known as `Jim Crow,' which arose
in
certain parts of the Nation following the Civil War
to create separate and unequal
societies for whites and African-Americans, was
a
direct result of the racism
against
persons of African descent engendered by slavery ;
9.
Whereas the system of Jim Crow laws officially
existed into the 1960's--a century
after the official end of slavery in
the
vestiges of Jim Crow continue to this day;
10.
Whereas
African-Americans
continue to suffer from the consequences of
slavery and Jim Crow--long after both systems were formally abolished—
11. Whereas the story of the enslavement and de jure
segregation of African-Americans
and the dehumanizing atrocities committed
against them
should not be purged 12.
Whereas on
President George W. Bush acknowledged
slavery's continuing legacy
in American
life and the need to confront that legacy when he stated that slavery
`was . . .
one of the greatest crimes of history . . .
…The racial bigotry fed by slavery did not
end with slavery or with segregation.
And
many of the issues that still trouble
experience of other times.
But
however long the journey, our destiny is set: liberty
and justice for all.';
13. Whereas President Bill Clinton also acknowledged the
deep-seated problems
caused by the continuing legacy of racism against African-Americans that
began with slavery
when he initiated a national dialogue about race;
14.
Whereas a genuine apology is an important and necessary first step in
the process of racial reconciliation;
15.
Whereas an apology for centuries of brutal dehumanization and injustices
cannot erase the past, but confession of the wrongs committed can speed
racial healing and reconciliation and help Americans confront the ghosts
of their past;
16. Whereas the legislature of the
Commonwealth of Virginia
has recently taken the
lead in adopting a resolution officially
expressing appropriate remorse for slavery
and other State legislatures are considering
similar resolutions; and 17. Whereas it is important for this
country, which legally recognized slavery through
its Constitution and its laws, to make a
formal apology for slavery and for its
successor, Jim Crow,
so that
it can move forward and seek reconciliation,
Resolved, That
the House of Representatives-- (1) acknowledges the fundamental
injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of
slavery
and Jim Crow;
(2) apologizes to African-Americans on
behalf of the people
of the
the wrongs committed against them and their
ancestors who suffered under slavery
and Jim Crow; and
(3)
expresses its commitment to rectify the lingering consequences
of the misdeeds
committed against African-Americans under
slavery and Jim Crow and to stop the occurrence of human rights violations in the future.
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