[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 14, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1387-S1388]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BLACK HISTORY MONTH

  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I am very pleased to join in 
commemorating African-American History Month and particularly this 
year's theme, ``Creating and Defining the African-American Community: 
Family, Church, Politics and Culture.''
  Since 1926, the month of February has served as a time for our 
citizens to recognize and applaud the vast contributions made by 
African-Americans to the founding and building of this great Nation. 
The vision of the noted author and scholar, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, led 
to this important annual celebration. As we note the theme of this 
year's Black History Month celebration, it is important to recognize 
the challenges ahead for African-Americans in a new age.
  From early days, the family has been the backbone of the African-
American culture in our country. Through a strong and stable family 
structure, African-Americans found companionship, love, and an 
understanding of the suffering endured during oppressive periods in 
history. The African-American family has served to strengthen and 
encourage young African-Americans to forge ahead to break barriers and 
rise to new heights within American culture.
  The unemployment rate for African-Americans has fallen from 14.2 
percent in 1992 to 8.3 percent in 1999, the lowest annual level on 
record. The median household income of African-Americans is up 15.1 
percent since 1993, from $22,034 in 1993 to $25,351 in 1998. Real wages 
of African-Americans have risen rapidly in the past two years, up about 
5.8 percent for men and 6.2 percent for women since 1996.
  The African-American poverty rate has dropped from 33.1 percent in 
1993 to 26.1 percent in 1998, the lowest level ever recorded and the 
largest five-year drop in more than twenty-five years. Since 1993, the 
child poverty rate among African-Americans has dropped from 46.1 
percent to 36.7 percent in 1998. While still too large, this represents 
the largest five-year drop on record. It is critical that we in 
Congress continue to work to enact legislation that will further 
strengthen African-American families and enable these rates to continue 
to decrease at record levels.
  Religion, like family, has played a vital role in African-American 
life in this country, with the Black Church a substantial and enduring 
presence. Throughout the early period of our Nation's development, 
African-Americans established their own religious institutions. 
Although these institutions were not always formally recognized, it 
should be noted that the African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded 
in 1787, followed closely by the African Baptist Church in 1788. 
Throughout our Nation's history, the Black Church has served as both a 
stabilizing influence and as a catalyst for needed change.
  During slavery, the African-American Church was a place of spiritual 
sanctuary and community. After Blacks were freed, the Church remained a 
line of defense and comfort against racism. The Black Church served as 
an agency of social reorientation and reconstruction, providing 
reinforcement for the values of marriage, family, morality, and 
spirituality in the face of the corrosive effects of discrimination.
  The Black Church became the center for economic cooperation, pooling 
resources to buy churches, building mutual aid societies which provided 
social services, purchasing and helping resettle enslaved Africans, and 
establishing businesses. From its earliest days as an invisible 
spiritural community, the Black Church supported social change and 
struggle, providing leaders and leadership at various points in the 
struggle against racism and discrimination.
  The civil rights movement of the 1960s provided the catalyst for 
African-Americans to move into the political arena. Three major factors 
encouraged the beginning of this new movement for civil rights. First, 
many African-Americans served with honor in World War II, as they had 
in many wars since the American revolution. However, in this instance, 
African-American leaders pointed to the records of these veterans to 
show the injustice of racial discrimination against patriots. Second, 
more and more African-Americans in the North had made economic gains, 
increased their education, and registered to vote. Third, the NAACP had 
attracted many new members and received increased financial support 
from all citizens.
  In addition, a young group of energetic lawyers, including Thurgood 
Marshall, of Baltimore, Maryland, used the legal system to bring about 
important changes in the lives of African-Americans, while Dr. Martin 
Luther King, Jr. appealed to the conscience of all citizens. When 
Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act 
of 1965, Clarence Mitchell, Jr., of Maryland, played a critical part in 
steering this legislation through Congress.
  African-Americans began to assume more influential roles in the 
Federal Government as a result of the civil rights movement, a 
development which benefitted the entire Nation. In 1966, Dr. Robert C. 
Weaver became the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the first 
Black Cabinet Member and Edward Brooke became the first African-
American elected to the Senate since reconstruction. In 1967, Thurgood 
Marshall became the first Black Justice on the Supreme Court. In 1969, 
Shirley Chisholm of New York became the first Black woman to serve in 
the U.S. House of Representatives.

  Progress continued in the next three decades. In 1976, Patricia 
Harris became the first Black woman Cabinet Member and in 1977 when 
Clifford Alexander was confirmed as the first Black Secretary of the 
Army. In 1989, Douglas Wilder of Virginia became the first elected 
African-American Governor in the Nation. In 1992, Carol Moseley-Braun 
became the first African-American female U.S. Senator. In 1993, Ron 
Brown became the first African-American Secretary of Commerce, Jesse 
Brown became the first African-American Secretary of the Veterans 
Administration, and Hazel O'Leary became the first black Secretary of 
Energy. In 1997, Rodney Slater became the first African-American 
Secretary of Transportation and Alexis Herman became the first African-
American Secretary of Labor. In 2001, Roderick Paige became the first 
African-American Secretary of Education and General Colin Powell, in 
addition to being the first African-American Chairman of the Joint 
Chiefs of Staff, became the first U.S. Secretary of State.
  African-Americans have played significant roles in influencing and 
changing American life and culture. Through such fields as arts and 
entertainment,

[[Page S1388]]

the military, politics and civil rights, African-Americans have been 
key to the progress and prosperity of our Nation. Blacks have 
contributed to the artistic and literary heritage of America from the 
early years to the present. They have influenced the field of music as 
composers, vocalists, and instrumentalists and played a seminal role in 
the emergence of blues, jazz, gospel, and rhythm and blues.
  Although African-Americans owned and published newspapers in the 19th 
century, their achievements in the communications industry have been 
most noted in the 20th century, when they produced and contributed to 
magazines, newspapers, and television and radio news and talk shows in 
unprecedented numbers. There are now hundreds of Black-owned radio 
stations throughout the country. While integrated into professional 
sports relatively recently, African-American athletes have reached the 
highest levels of accomplishment. They also comprise some of the finest 
athletes representing the United States in the Olympic Games.
  As we move into the new Millenium, we look forward to the continued 
growth and prosperity of African-American citizens. Our Nation's 
history is replete with the contributions of African-Americans. Black 
History Month affords all Americans an opportunity to celebrate the 
great achievements of African-Americans, to celebrate how far this 
Nation has come, and to remind us of how far we have to go.

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