[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 184 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 184
Recognizing and celebrating the significance of Black History Month.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 28, 2023
Mr. Green of Texas (for himself, Ms. Adams, Mr. Allred, Mr.
Auchincloss, Ms. Balint, Ms. Barragan, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms.
Blunt Rochester, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Bowman, Mr. Boyle of Pennsylvania,
Ms. Brown, Ms. Budzinski, Ms. Bush, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Cardenas, Mr.
Carson, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mr. Casar, Mr. Casten, Mr. Castro of
Texas, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Cohen, Mr.
Costa, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Crow, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Dean of
Pennsylvania, Ms. DelBene, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Doggett,
Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Evans, Mrs. Fletcher, Mrs. Foushee, Mr.
Garcia of Illinois, Mr. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Mr. Grijalva, Mr.
Higgins of New York, Mr. Thompson of California, Mr. Horsford, Ms.
Jacobs, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Ms. Kelly of
Illinois, Mr. Kildee, Ms. Kuster, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Ms. Lee of
California, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr. Lynch, Ms. Matsui, Ms.
McCollum, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Meng, Mr. Mfume, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin,
Mr. Morelle, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Norton, Ms. Omar, Mr.
Panetta, Mr. Pappas, Mr. Payne, Ms. Pettersen, Ms. Pingree, Ms.
Plaskett, Ms. Porter, Ms. Pressley, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Ross, Mr.
Ruppersberger, Ms. Sanchez, Ms. Scanlon, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. David
Scott of Georgia, Ms. Sewell, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Soto, Ms.
Stansbury, Ms. Stevens, Ms. Strickland, Mr. Takano, Mr. Thompson of
Mississippi, Ms. Titus, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Torres of New York,
Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Trone, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Veasey, Ms. Velazquez, Ms.
Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Waters, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Williams of
Georgia, Ms. Wilson of Florida, and Mr. Jackson of Illinois) submitted
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
Oversight and Accountability
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing and celebrating the significance of Black History Month.
Whereas this resolution may be cited as the Original Black History Month
Resolution of 2023;
Whereas this resolution has been endorsed by the Association for the Study of
African American Life and History;
Whereas the theme for Black History Month 2023 is ``Black Resistance'', which
chronicles how African Americans have resisted oppression in all its
invidious forms including: enslavement, lynching, mob violence, police
brutality, Black codes, convict leasing, Jim Crow laws, lawful
segregation, and invidious discrimination;
Whereas slavery was a brutal and inhumane system that treated human beings as
property and stripped them of their inalienable human rights of life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;
Whereas the history of Black resistance in the United States predates the civil
rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, as it historically spans
centuries from colonial slavery through contemporary invidious
discrimination;
Whereas this resolution illuminates some of the momentous recondite history of
Black resistance that predates the resistance movements of the 20th and
21st centuries;
Whereas Black resistance to slavery was a constant presence throughout the
history of enslavement in the United States, and it took many forms,
including acts of rebellion, escape, suicide, sabotage, litigation, work
slowdowns, feigning illness, misplacing or damaging tools, and other
forms of noncompliance;
Whereas there is historical evidence of as many as 250 instances of slave
revolts involving 10 or more slaves during the history of American
slavery;
Whereas the Nat Turner and Gabriel Prosser rebellions were two of the most
significant acts of armed resistance to slavery in the United States,
inspiring other enslaved people to resist and making clear the
determination of enslaved people to fight for their freedom;
Whereas Gabriel Prosser's rebellion against Virginia and the United States in
1800 was a landmark event in the history of Black resistance to slavery
in the United States and, although he and his followers were hanged, his
bravery and leadership continue to inspire generations of activists and
advocates;
Whereas the Stono Rebellion, the New York City Conspiracy, and the German Coast
Uprising are other instances of significant slave uprisings in the
United States and its predecessor colonies;
Whereas in the fight for freedom, liberty, justice, and equality the righteous
resistance of many Black freedom fighters has been depreciated,
downplayed, deprecated, disparaged, denigrated, disrespected, and
demonized;
Whereas the story of Claudette Colvin who refused to give up her seat on a
segregated bus months before the famous incident where Rosa Parks
refused to do the same has been deprecated, downplayed, and
disrespected;
Whereas Bayard Rustin, a lifelong civil rights advocate and lead organizer of
the March on Washington, was nearly written out of history merely
because of his sexual orientation;
Whereas religion was a form of resistance to slavery as it allowed the enslaved
to assert their humanity, dignity, and independence;
Whereas spiritual songs were often used as a form of resistance by building
community and maintaining good spirits, as a means of healing, and even
to communicate secret messages;
Whereas the song ``Steal Away'' was used by Nat Turner to call people to him to
discuss plans for his rebellion, and the same song was also sung by
slaves who planned on escaping soon;
Whereas a song, ``Get on the Gospel Train'', provided courage for slaves to
escape, citing room for many people, a train available to everyone, and
a promise that also alluded to the fact that both Blacks and Whites
provided assistance to fugitive slaves as they traveled the Underground
Railroad;
Whereas the song ``Sweet Chariot'' was said to be a personal favorite of Harriet
Tubman's as it indicated to slaves that they would be escaping soon;
Whereas the song ``Follow the Drinking Gourd'' was used to remind slaves of the
clues they would need to find their way north;
Whereas those slaves who resisted their enslavement by running away were not
only recaptured, punished, and returned to their torment, but also
exposed in newspaper ads, which assured enslavers that all was well;
Whereas the following is a selection of ads on captured suspected fugitive
slaves run in the Montgomery Advertiser from 1849 to 1865;
Whereas John, 23, ran away from Levi Williams, and had a $25 reward offered for
John's return;
Whereas George, 20, was captured in Mobile County after he had escaped from
owner James Edward Wilson in Memphis, Tennessee;
Whereas Hannah, arrested in Pickens County, was a 75-year-old woman who was said
to belong to John Smith of Lowndes County, Mississippi;
Whereas Frank, whose age was described only as a boy, was an at-large runaway
with a $15 reward for his capture;
Whereas Lucinda, 20, was jailed in Mobile County, Alabama, belonged to Mrs.
Elizabeth Hinsley of Sumter County, Alabama, and had multiple scars on
her right arm;
Whereas Black resistance to slavery was confronted with harsh court decisions
that stripped Blacks of their human rights;
Whereas in the 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, the Supreme Court ruled
that having lived in a free State and territory did not entitle an
enslaved person, Dred Scott, to his freedom;
Whereas the Court further ruled in Dred Scott v. Sandford that people of African
descent ``are not included, and were not intended to be included, under
the word `citizens' in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of
the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures
to citizens of the United States'';
Whereas in Dred Scott v. Sandford, Chief Justice Roger Taney declared, in the
Supreme Court's infamous majority opinion, that Dred Scott, a Black
slave, ``had no rights a white man was bound to respect'';
Whereas the Supreme Court in the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson embraced legal
segregation, which advanced constitutional justification for laws that
allowed for separate and supposedly equal public facilities for White
and Black Americans;
Whereas the Underground Railroad, led by figures such as Harriet Tubman and
Frederick Douglass, played a vital role in resistance by helping
enslaved people escape to freedom;
Whereas, during the Civil War, Black soldiers made up approximately 10 percent
of the Union Army, with approximately 180,000 Black soldiers enlisting
to fight for their freedom and the abolition of slavery;
Whereas despite facing discrimination and being paid less than White soldiers,
Black soldiers played a crucial role in the Union's victory in the Civil
War by risking and in too many instances sacrificing their lives in the
fight for the freedom of their fellow man;
Whereas the Black soldiers' participation in the Civil War was not only
significant in terms of numbers, but also in terms of the impact their
participation had on the fight for racial equality and civil rights, as
it challenged the notion that Black Americans were not capable of
fighting for their own freedom;
Whereas the Civil War, as well as the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, emanated
from Black resistance to slavery in the United States;
Whereas the abolition of slavery did not end White supremacy;
Whereas the period between the end of the Civil War and the civil rights
movement was marked by continued discrimination and oppression of
African Americans, despite the abolition of slavery;
Whereas the history of Black resistance in the United States has demonstrated
that the fight for racial justice and equality is ongoing and
multifaceted, and that despite the massive strides that have been made
in the name of justice, there are still many areas where progress is
needed;
Whereas Black activists in the United States have inspired many other
marginalized communities around the world to fight for their rights and
equality;
Whereas the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass inspired the
creation of Negro History Week, the precursor to Black History Month;
and
Whereas the month of February is officially celebrated as Black History Month,
which dates to 1926 when Dr. Carter G. Woodson set aside the second week
in February as Negro History Week to recognize the heritage and
achievement of Black Americans: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This resolution may be cited as the ``Original Black History Month
Resolution of 2023''.
SEC. 2. RECOGNIZING AND CELEBRATING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BLACK HISTORY
MONTH.
The House of Representatives recognizes the importance of
commemorating Black History Month as it acknowledges the achievements
of Black Americans throughout the Nation's history and encourages the
continuation of its celebration to raise the awareness of this
community's accomplishments for all Americans.
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