[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 197 (Tuesday, December 12, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H14355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2100
                           RACISM IN AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Illinois [Mrs. Collins] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, it is seldom that I take the 
floor to do special orders, but today I feel compelled to do so because 
of the rapidly escalating mean-spirited activities that I have read and 
heard about that are occurring in our country.
  On Saturday morning when I went to my front door to pick up my 
newspaper I was appalled to see in bold letters the following headline 
``3 White Soldiers Held in Slaying of Black Couple.'' According to the 
news report, Michael James and Jackie Burden were just walking down the 
street at 12:30 Thursday morning in a black neighborhood in 
Fayettevelle, NC, when three white paratroopers who were ``cruising the 
streets of Fayetteville searching for blacks to harass'' shot them in 
the head.
  The article went on to say that one of the soldiers ``made no secret 
of his white supremacist views . . . and during his off-duty hours . . 
. associated with four or five other soldiers who all wear black boots 
with white laces and red suspenders, a style that represented an 
unofficial skinhead uniform.''
  A few months ago I was greatly disturbed when it was reported that 
agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms displayed racist 
signs at their summer outing. Earlier, the fact came to light that some 
employees of the Dennys restaurant chain had refused to serve a busload 
of black church people and had given clearly discriminatory service to 
members of the U.S. Secret Service who just happened to be black.
  Last week I picked up the Roll Call newspaper and was alarmed to find 
on the front page an article entitled ``Police Probe Anti-Semitic 
Incident by House Pages'' which stated that ``The Capitol Police 
department is conducting a criminal investigation into an act of anti-
Semitic vandalism at the House page dorm''. It appears that some of the 
pages got into a dispute and one found a swastika on his door the next 
day. While it is not unusual for teenagers to sometimes find themselves 
in disputes with their peers, but it is alarming to see young teenagers 
resorting to such hateful means of expressing their disagreements.
  I have recounted these stories which are a minute illustration of the 
myriad incidents that are occurring throughout the Nation because I am 
concerned about America. Nowadays I don't hear the real Americans 
speaking out against the racism which has been resurrected and is 
rearing its ugly head with a roar.
  I am concerned because when many of those in this body speak of 
cutting destitute families off welfare, it is not really about the 
green buck, but about the black face.
  I am concerned because when we discuss the issue of school prayer, it 
may not really be about prayer itself, but about to whom we pray.
  I am equally troubled because some misguided black folk are engaging 
in reactionary hatred. Racism is un-American from whatever source.
  As a Nation, we hold ourselves out to be tolerant of others and their 
beliefs. We pride ourselves on being the melting pot of the world, we 
declare that all men are created equal and that we each have the 
unalienable right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; and 
yet America is allowing these atrocities to continue--and I don't hear 
the leadership in this Congress or in this country speaking out against 
them.
  We are currently deploying young men and young women in the prime of 
their lives to Bosnia in an effort to bring peace to that part of the 
world, while at the same time, some racially-crazed military personnel 
right here in America are modern-day lynching black folk.
  We sing that we are the land of the free and the home of the brave, 
but black America is not free and those who set out to purposefully do 
us harm are not brave.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Ramstad] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  [Mr. RAMSTAD addressed the House. His remarks will appear hereafter 
in the Extensions of Remarks.]

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