June, 19 2009, 02:15pm EDT
NAACP Applauds U.S. Senate for Passing Bipartisan Resolution Apologizing for the Enslavement and Racial Segregation of African-Americans;
Urges U.S. House to Pass Concurrent Resolution Swiftly
WASHINGTON
The NAACP commends the United States Senate today for its passage of
a historic resolution apologizing for the enslavement and racial
segregation of African-Americans.
"The NAACP would like
to thank Senators Harkin and Brownback and the entire Senate for
passing this resolution. We hope that their counterparts in the House,
Congressman Steve Cohen and others will act swiftly to pass their
concurrent resolution," stated NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd
Jealous. "The apology for slavery and the era of Jim Crow segregation
is long overdue and is the first step toward healing the wounds of
African-American men and women throughout this country."
The
resolution comes during the celebration known as Juneteenth, the
nation's oldest commemoration of the end of slavery. Sens. Tom Harkin
(D-IA), and Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), sponsored the bill;
Congressman Cohen will sponsor the bill in the House, which is expected
to be debated soon.
"On the hundredth anniversary of the
NAACP, the passage of the U.S. Senates apology for the horrors
experienced by blacks victimized by the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, the
Jim Crow era and even the residuals of these barbaric experiences on
the African American descendants of these courageous Americans is long
overdue and much needed. This eloquently captured Concurrent Resolution
sponsored by Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa and Senator Sam Brownback of
Kansas, creates a watershed opportunity for Americans of all races,
ethnicities and national origins to better understand the historic
racial challenges of our nation and work together to craft solution to
the remnants of racism still lingering in our society," said Hilary O.
Shelton, Vice President for Advocacy and Director of the NAACP
Washington Bureau.
After making detailed findings
regarding slavery and era of legalized segregation known as "Jim Crow,"
the resolution reads that the Congress "acknowledges the fundamental
injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow
laws and apologizes to African Americans on behalf of the people of the
United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their
ancestors who suffered under slavery."
Founded Feb. 12. 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest, largest and most widely recognized grassroots-based civil rights organization. Its more than half-million members and supporters throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.
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