[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 10 (Friday, January 16, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E108]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   PAUL CUFFE: VOTING RIGHTS PIONEER

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                           HON. BARNEY FRANK

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 16, 2009

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, Saturday, January 17, is 
the 250th birthday of Paul Cuffe. He is not well known, but he should 
be. I was not myself familiar with his important role in our history 
and as one of those who fought against the terrible racist pattern that 
mars our early history until it was called to my attention by a 
constituent, Brock N. Cordeiro of the Town of Dartmouth. Mr. Cordeiro 
wrote to me and called my attention to Mr. Cuffe's role. As Mr. 
Cordeiro notes, in 1781 ``Paul Cuffe sought the franchise or relief 
from taxation without representation'' and he played a major role in 
the fact that this happened in Massachusetts in 1783. Many years later, 
in 1864, as the Town of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, celebrated its 
centennial, people noted that ``it was his determined and manly 
efforts, and his refusal to pay the taxes assessed upon him, on the 
grounds that he had no voice or vote with his neighbors, that finally 
secured from the Legislature of Massachusetts equal rights of suffrage 
for the colored man with the white man.''
  Madam Speaker, I am very proud as an American of the role that 
America has played as the first vibrant self-governed Nation, but the 
racism that marked our early years is the source of trouble which we 
are still fighting to overcome. It is therefore entirely appropriate to 
recognize as his 250th birthday approaches the pioneering work of Paul 
Cuffe. It is very difficult to imagine from our safe haven today what 
moral and physical courage it took for Mr. Cuffe to defy the racist 
consensus which confronted him, and his example should be widely 
hailed.
  I am grateful to Brock Cordeiro for calling this to my attention. Mr. 
Cordeiro noted in his letter to me that he came to this through his 
academic studies, and because of his own history in the need to 
confront our racist past and to mark the progress we have made in 
overcoming it, he wrote a master's thesis on Mr. Cuffe.
  Madam Speaker, as you know, and as I advised Mr. Cordeiro, we do not 
issue proclamations on people's birthdays, but given the great 
historical example that Paul Cuffe has given, I am very proud to insert 
this tribute to him on his 250th birthday into this Record.

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