[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 11 (Monday, February 11, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S585-S586]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BLACK HISTORY MONTH

  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with my Maryland 
constituents and millions of Americans in celebrating African-American 
History Month this February. Since 1926, February has been designated 
as a time to recognize a crucial part of our diversity: the vast 
history and legacy that African-Americans have contributed to the 
founding and building of our Nation. While we have much to celebrate in 
the achievements of many African-Americans, and the great strides this 
country has made towards true equality, there is also much work to be 
done.
  This year's theme, designated by The Association for the Study of 
African-American Life and History, ASALH, is ``The Color Line 
Revisited: Is Racism Dead?'' The fact that this question can even be 
posed indicates the progress that our society has made in race 
relations over the past 50 years. We must attribute this progress to 
the sacrifice, vision and commitment of thousands of African-Americans 
and others who proved that the true strength of our Union lies in the 
diversity of our population.
  One such visionary is Marion Wright Edelman, the founder and 
president of the Children's Defense Fund. Recently I had the 
opportunity to hear Ms. Edelman speak at the Annual Martin Luther King, 
Jr. Memorial Breakfast at Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland. 
Marion Wright Edelman shares Dr. King's vision of a unified and equal 
Nation, and acknowledges the great strides that have been made in 
working towards this vision. Through her work at the Children's Defense 
Fund, Marion Wright Edelman is helping to ensure that all children in 
America get a healthy, fair and safe start in life.
  Yet despite the great strides that have been made toward eliminating 
racism and inequality, Ms. Edelman stressed that many disparities still 
exist. The Children's Defense Fund reports that nearly one in three 
African-American children are poor in America, compared with 13 percent 
of white children. Many children are educated in substandard schools. A 
disproportionate number of African-American children are without health 
insurance. And African-American juveniles are over-represented on every 
level of the criminal justice system.
  But there is hope, Marion Wright Edelman and the Children's Defense 
Fund are working hard to correct these inequalities. The Children's 
Defense Fund acts as a voice for children in America who cannot speak 
for themselves, and Marion Wright Edelman has been a tireless advocate 
for children who are suffering and need a helping hand.
  There is much that we in Congress can do to continue to improve the 
quality of life for African-Americans and for all Americans. We can 
help the parents of working families by raising the minimum wage. We 
have already passed the ``Leave No Child Behind'' education reform bill 
that will provide new standards for schools and teachers, and will help 
make quality education available to all Americans. We can work on 
election reform to ensure that all voters are properly registered, and 
every vote is counted. And we need to make health care available and 
affordable for African-Americans and all Americans. With these and 
other reforms we will move further down the path to equality dreamed of 
by Dr. King.
  The terrorist attacks of September 11 left us shocked and wounded, 
yet we found once again that the strength of this Nation lies within 
its people and its diversity. In the months that have passed since that 
day, we have shown the world how people of all races, colors, religions 
and nationalities create the fabric of our Nation, a fabric that is 
richer because of our differences. This month we honor the special 
contribution African-Americans have made to that fabric. Through 
African-American History Month, we celebrate how far this country has 
come, and remind ourselves of how far we have to go.
 Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. President, while we are celebrating 
Black History Month, I want to rise to honor a man named York, arguably 
the first black American to make a significant contribution to, and 
cast a vote in, my home State of Oregon.
  Most Americans know very little about York, Captain William Clark's 
``servant,'' as Clark called him, who made the journey to Oregon with 
the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1803. Despite his important role in 
opening the West, it is unfortunate that York has not been remembered 
along with other early black Americans who helped shape our nation's 
history.
  William Clark's lifelong slave companion, York was roughly the same 
age as Clark, and by all accounts the two were friends for most of 
their lives. York was bequeathed to Clark by his father, John Clark, in 
a will dated July 24, 1799, and on October 29, 1803, he joined Clark 
and Captain Meriwether Lewis on a journey into history.
  York, when he is remembered, is often remembered best for the 
curiosity he aroused in Native Americans he met during the journey. 
Apparently, York so fascinated the people he met that there exist 
numerous stories of women attempting to wash his skin white. According 
to journal accounts, he sometimes used their fascination to the 
expedition's advantage, intimidating Arikaras tribesmen, for example, 
with fantastic tales of his wild youth as a cannibal.
  Perhaps because of such stories, York is often described in an 
inaccurate, negative manner. However, common characterizations more 
accurately reflect the racial biases of historians than they do York's 
actual contributions to the expedition. Judging from the journals kept 
by members of the expedition, York was a reliable and indispensable 
part of the expedition. During a time when most black Americans were 
denied access to firearms, York was counted on as a skilled hunter. 
York also served as a cook, a confidant, and a nurse, as did each 
member of the party from time to time. One account has York charging 
into a flash flood, fearing for the safety of Clark, the famed 
translator Sacagawea, her son, and her husband, Toussaint, who had not 
yet made it to safety.
  The most telling example of York's role in the expedition occurred in 
November 1805, when the group decided to winter in Oregon. Finding 
little game on the northern bank of the Columbia

[[Page S586]]

River, the group had to decide whether to winter there or cross the 
river in search of a more hospitable setting. Lewis and Clark took a 
vote on the matter, and the final tally included the votes of 
Sacagawea, a woman, and York, a black man. That winter, York and the 
group built Fort Clatsop, the westernmost outpost of the United States 
Government at the time, and one of our Nation's major claims on the 
disputed Oregon country.
  It is odd that York is not commonly honored as an American who made 
possible the western expansion of our nation. The Lewis and Clark 
expedition, which will soon celebrate its 200th anniversary, is a 
seminal event in American history, and a black American who contributed 
significantly to that historic endeavor remains unknown to a nation 
which owes him a debt of gratitude.

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