[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 21 (Monday, February 5, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1578-S1579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 69--RECOGNIZING THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN SPIRITUAL AS A 
                           NATIONAL TREASURE

  Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. Reid, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Obama, Mr. 
Durbin, Mr. Biden, Mr. Levin, Mr. Feingold, Mrs. Dole, Mrs. Clinton, 
Mr. Lautenberg, and Mr. Kennedy) submitted the following resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                               S. Res. 69

       Whereas since slavery was introduced into the European 
     colonies in 1619, enslaved Africans remained in bondage until 
     the United States ratified the 13th amendment to the 
     Constitution in 1865;
       Whereas during that period in the history of the United 
     States, the first expression of a unique American music was 
     created by enslaved African-Americans who--
       (1) used their knowledge of the English language and the 
     Christian religious faith, as it had been taught to them in 
     the New World; and
       (2) stealthily wove within the music their experience of 
     coping with human servitude and their strong desire to be 
     free;
       Whereas as a method of survival, enslaved African-Americans 
     who were forbidden to speak their native languages, play 
     musical instruments they had used in Africa, or practice 
     their traditional religious beliefs, relied on their strong 
     African oral tradition of songs, stories, proverbs, and 
     historical accounts to create an original genre of music, now 
     known as spirituals;
       Whereas Calvin Earl, a noted performer of, and educator on, 
     African-American spirituals, remarked that the Christian 
     lyrics became a metaphor for freedom from slavery, a secret 
     way for slaves to ``communicate with each other, teach their 
     children, record their history, and heal their pain'';
       Whereas the New Jersey Historical Commission found that 
     ``some of those daring and artful runaway slaves who entered 
     New Jersey by way of the Underground Railroad no doubt sang 
     the words of old Negro spirituals like `Steal Away' before 
     embarking on their perilous journey north'';
       Whereas African-American spirituals spread all over the 
     United States, and the songs we know of today may represent 
     only a small portion of the total number of spirituals that 
     once existed;
       Whereas Frederick Douglass, a fugitive slave who would 
     become one of the leading abolitionists in the United States, 
     remarked that spirituals ``told a tale of woe which was then 
     altogether beyond my feeble comprehension; they were tones 
     loud, long, and deep; they breathed the prayer and complaint 
     of souls boiling over with the bitterest

[[Page S1579]]

     anguish. Every tone was a testimony against slavery and a 
     prayer to God for deliverance from chains.''; and
       Whereas section 2(a)(1) of the American Folklife 
     Preservation Act (20 U.S.C. 2101(a)(1)) states that ``the 
     diversity inherent in American folklife has contributed 
     greatly to the cultural richness of the Nation and has 
     fostered a sense of individuality and identity among the 
     American people'': Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes that African-American spirituals are a 
     poignant and powerful genre of music that have become one of 
     the most significant segments of American music in existence;
       (2) expresses the deepest gratitude, recognition, and honor 
     to the former enslaved Africans in the United States for 
     their gifts to the Nation, including their original music and 
     oral history; and
       (3) encourages the people of the United States to reflect 
     on the important contribution of African-American spirituals 
     to United States history and to recognize the African-
     American spiritual as a national treasure.

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