87S10186 BHH-D
By: Reynolds H.C.R. No. 7
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, During a span of nearly 250 years, beginning in 1619
and continuing until 1865, millions of Africans and their
descendants were enslaved and forced into uncompensated labor in
the United States and the 13 American colonies that preceded the
founding of this nation; and
WHEREAS, The enslavement of Africans and their descendants
was constitutionally sanctioned by the final draft of the
Constitution of the United States of America in 1789; it was not
until the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865 that slavery
was legally abolished, yet the suffering of the former slaves
continued after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and
ratification of the 13th Amendment; and
WHEREAS, The abolition of slavery alone was not enough to set
the freed slaves on the path to self-sufficiency, given the fact
that for generations they had been systematically denied access to
education, property, legal rights, or any other foundation for
success, and even the few attempts to provide some of these
fundamental elements often were quickly overturned; and
WHEREAS, For example, the original pledge of 40 acres of land
to all freed slaves under the Freedman's Bureau Act of 1865 was
rendered obsolete in 1866 by President Andrew Johnson when he
returned all of the land to the pre-Civil War owners, leaving the
freed slaves with a broken promise and bankrupting the bureau's
funding; and
WHEREAS, The United States government has actively supported
initiatives to indemnify Americans who were wronged in the past; in
1946, the United States Congress established a tribunal to resolve
grievances of Native American tribes and eventually awarded them
reparations, and in 1988, the United States awarded Japanese
Americans reparations in an effort to compensate for their
internment in camps during World War II; and
WHEREAS, The movement to officially recognize the impact of
slavery on the American citizenry has been sustained through
several generations and continues to have nationwide support;
however, since the abolition of slavery, the United States has yet
to take responsibility for its role in the enslavement of Africans
and their descendants, and sufficient inquiry has not been made to
examine the institution of slavery and its lingering negative
effects on African American society in the United States; now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas,
1st Called Session, hereby respectfully urge the United States
Congress to pass H.R. 40 to establish the Commission to Study and
Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans; and, be it
further
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the
Senate of the United States Congress, and to all members of the
Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this resolution
be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to
the Congress of the United States of America.