[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 18 (Thursday, February 24, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S830-S831]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                CELEBRATE AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH

 Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, in many ways, the life of Carter 
Woodson represents the history of his race in America.
  As a young man in the late 1800s, he worked in the fields and in a 
coal mine. He took a break from the grueling work to educate himself, 
enroll in high school and graduate after only two years of instruction. 
He went back to the coal mines to support himself, attending school 
when he could, and eventually earned a doctorate in history from 
Harvard University. Mr. Woodson went on to become a passionate student 
and teacher of Black History, establishing an annual reflection on his 
culture's accomplishments and resilience: Black History Month.
  In celebration of this month, I would like to recognize another 
leader who has worked hard to chronicle the history of people of 
African heritage: Dr. James Cameron, founder of America's Black 
Holocaust Museum, located in Milwaukee. This museum is dedicated to 
documenting the injustices that African Americans have suffered, and to 
remind us at how far we've come as a society from the racism of the 
past.
  Dr. Cameron, the only known living survivor of a lynch mob attack in 
the

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country, founded America's Black Holocaust Museum in 1988 after an 
inspirational visit to the Yad Vashem Jewish Holocaust Memorial in 
Israel--just as this museum was constructed to remind us of the 
atrocities committed against Jewish people during World War II, Dr. 
Cameron wanted to ensure that Americans would not forget what kind of 
inhumanity African Americans have endured.
  Today, as I discovered on my own visit to the museum, it has grown to 
become a major educational and cultural center for the nation which 
thousands of people of many different backgrounds visit each year. It 
regularly hosts prominent exhibitions such as historical artifacts 
collected from a wrecked slave ship and a Smithsonian exhibit on the 
civil rights movement. America's Black History Museum also prepares 
educational material for teachers and worked with UW-Milwaukee to offer 
an on-site, for-credit course to undergraduate and graduate students.
  The work of Dr. Cameron, and this month established by the hard work 
of Mr. Woodson, remind us that the protection of civil rights and civil 
liberties for all should continue to be a top priority. I strongly 
believe in equality of opportunity for everyone, regardless of race, 
creed, or gender. Everyone should have the same equal chance to get an 
education or a job, or to own a home or live in the neighborhood of 
their choice. In other words, we all deserve a place at the starting 
line so that we can then use our own abilities, hard work and 
dedication to succeed in life.
  Of course, our country has yet to fully live up to the promise of 
equal opportunity for all. While Congress tries to find ways to address 
the crisis of discrimination, it is very important that everyone 
remember that we also have to respond on a personal level. No matter 
what answers Congress comes up with here in Washington, people need to 
try to be role models and lead by example. By teaching us about the 
racial injustices of the past, celebrating the resilience of African 
Americans and educating us about how to move forward from the prejudice 
and bias that plagues much of Black History, America's Black Holocaust 
Museum is one such example.
  This month, let's all take a moment to reflect on the history African 
Americans and the many lessons that it teaches us about equality, 
dignity and harmony. The dedication of Carter Woodson and James Cameron 
to helping us remember deserves nothing less.

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