House Concurrent Resolution 16

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE MISSISSIPPI CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE FUNDAMENTAL INJUSTICE, CRUELTY, BRUTALITY AND INHUMANITY OF SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES AND TO ESTABLISH A COMMISSION TO EXAMINE THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY, DE JURE AND DE FACTO RACIAL AND ECONOMIC DISCRIMINATION AGAINST AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE CONTINUING IMPACT OF THESE FORCES ON AFRICAN AMERICANS TODAY; TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE CONGRESS ON APPROPRIATE REMEDIES.

WHEREAS, the United States government has never acknowledged or taken responsibility for its role in the enslavement of Africans and the perpetuation of subordination and inferiority among African descendants; and

WHEREAS, the subsequent impact of enslavement, segregation and discrimination continues to have a significant effect upon the lives of African Americans causing limited opportunities and life chances because, when there is trauma that is not discussed, it persists through generations; and

WHEREAS, millions of African Americans remain economically and socially disabled by the long, cruel vestiges of American slavery and the century of government-embraced racial discrimination that followed, African social and economic institutions were destroyed; languages, religions and customs were extinguished; and as a result of the ravages of slavery and the racial strictures that followed, African Americans were consigned to this nation's economic bottom; and

WHEREAS, African Americans continue to strive to improve their educational attainment, economic conditions and family social organization, yet have been held back by official indifference creating a deliberate and systematic exclusion from institutions of power; and

WHEREAS, because American history regards African Americans as slaves, the other side of the dialogue must be understood, which is that the so-called slave was an enslaved African and this identity is bereft of humanity and lacking in dignity; and

WHEREAS, all Americans and the United States government have experienced tremendous gain and continue to benefit from the unjust expropriation of uncompensated labor by enslaved Africans, the subordination and segregation of the descendants of the enslaved, as well as from discrimination against African Americans; and

WHEREAS, African Americans have consistently sought to obtain reparations in the courts of the United States and through appeals to its government since the de jure end of slavery and have been unjustly denied relief; and

WHEREAS, it is imperative that Congress establish a commission to conduct a study on the lingering effects of slavery and require the commission to recommend an appropriate remedy:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, That we request the Mississippi congressional delegation to acknowledge the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of de jure slavery in the United States and require the delegation to establish a commission to examine the institution of slavery, de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against African Americans and the continuing impact of these forces on African Americans today, and to make recommendations to Congress on appropriate remedies.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution shall be furnished to each member of the Mississippi congressional delegation and to the Capitol Press Corps.