[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 41 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 41

      Recognizing 2011 as the Year for People of African Descent.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 19, 2011

Mr. Rush (for himself, Mr. Payne, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. 
 Towns, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Rangel, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mr. 
    Butterfield, and Mr. Al Green of Texas) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
      Recognizing 2011 as the Year for People of African Descent.

Whereas, on December 18, 2009, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 
        the year 2011 to be the International Year for People of African 
        Descent;
Whereas at least 11,000,000 Africans were brutally forced from their homelands 
        and shipped across the Atlantic Ocean during the 400 years of the trans-
        Atlantic slave trade;
Whereas the slave trade both relied on, and reinforced, systematic racism within 
        the United States and other nations, and contributed to Africa's 
        impoverishment and destabilization;
Whereas European colonization further entrenched the systematic and inequitable 
        looting of Africa's natural resources, the subjugation of its 
        inhabitants, and the economic and political marginalization of Africans 
        and people of African descent;
Whereas Africa is the world's poorest region, comprising only 2 percent of the 
        global gross domestic product;
Whereas Africa's population surpassed 1,000,000,000 persons for the first time 
        in 2009;
Whereas significant populations of Africans and their descendants live in North 
        America (40,800,000), South America (102,500,000), the Caribbean 
        (22,700,000), Europe (9,300,000), the Middle East, and Asia;
Whereas people of African descent living in the Diaspora often face racial 
        discrimination, xenophobia, and intolerance, leading to widely 
        documented disparities in access to education, justice, and economic 
        opportunity;
Whereas the African Diaspora is a vibrant and dynamic community that is also a 
        potential lynchpin of Africa's socioeconomic development, as exemplified 
        by the estimated flow into Africa of $21,500,000,000 in 2010 from 
        migrant African workers abroad; and
Whereas Africans and people of African heritage have made significant 
        contributions to global culture and the arts: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) the House of Representatives supports the United 
        Nations designation of the International Year for People of 
        African Descent; and
            (2) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
        the United States should--
                    (A) strengthen bilateral, regional, and 
                multilateral cooperation to promote the empowerment of 
                people of African descent in relation to their social, 
                educational, political, and economical rights;
                    (B) make every possible effort to advance the 
                diverse cultural traditions and heritage of people of 
                African descent; and
                    (C) strengthen its commitment to eradicate racism, 
                undo the injustices of history, and celebrate the 
                contributions of people of African descent across the 
                political, social, and economic spectrum.
                                 <all>