[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 115 (Thursday, July 1, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H3591-H3594]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CALL FOR NATION TO RECOGNIZE SLAVERY REMEMBRANCE DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2021, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green) is recognized for 
60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise. I rise today as I 
always do, with great respect for all and love of country at heart.
  I rise today for a very special reason. Today is one of the days that 
I will cherish for the rest of my life. What I will do today is 
something that I believe will help us to commemorate an unfortunate 
circumstance that our country has been a part of.
  This is the day that I will have the opportunity to bring to the 
attention of the Congress of the United States of America a very 
special resolution. This is a resolution that is supporting the 
designation of Slavery Remembrance Day.
  The resolution proposes that August 20, 2021, serve as the first 
Slavery Remembrance Day. And this is done to remind us of the evils of 
slavery.
  Mr. Speaker, I have noticed that as time has passed during my 
lifetime, there have been those who have sought to whitewash, to 
sanitize, the evils associated with slavery. This is a necessary 
resolution because this resolution will forever allow us to remember 
the horrors of slavery, the events that have shaped our current 
circumstances.
  Slavery was our seminal sin. It was the sin that has, for too long--
centuries, for too long--had an impact on the politics, the economics, 
the social standing of people in our country.
  This resolution reads as follows. I shall not read it in its entirety 
today, but there are some portions of it that are exceedingly 
important.

       Whereas this resolution may be cited as the ``Original 
     Slavery Remembrance Day Resolution of 2021.''

  For those who keep records, it is H. Res. 517. It has been filed, and 
it has more than 75 original cosponsors. I am saying original and more 
than 75 simply because, right up to the last minute, we were adding 
people, so more than 75 original cosponsors.
  I shall do all that I can to memorialize the persons who are original 
cosponsors, and I shall seek additional cosponsors of this resolution.

       Whereas the House of Representatives recognizes August 20, 
     2021, as ``Slavery Remembrance Day'' and commemorates the 
     lives of all enslaved people while also condemning the act 
     and perpetuation of slavery in the United States of America 
     and across the world.
       Whereas we posthumously recognize the following Members of 
     Congress, who served during and after the Reconstruction era, 
     as honorary cosponsors of this resolution.

  Their names are listed. I will not read them today. I want to do 
something very special when these names are mentioned, and they shall 
be mentioned in the near future. But their names are all here, persons 
who actually served in the Congress of the United States of America. 
These are persons who merit a special place in history because of all 
that they had to endure to serve our country.

       Whereas, on August 20, 1619, the first 20 enslaved Africans 
     were brought to what is now Fort Monroe, then Point Comfort.

  At that time, the time that they arrived, August 20, 1619, it was 
Point Comfort. History has a way of reminding us of things. ``Point 
Comfort,'' the place where 20 enslaved Africans arrived. Point Comfort.

       Whereas the House of Representatives recognizes August 20, 
     2021, as ``Slavery Remembrance Day'' and commemorates the 
     lives of all enslaved people while also condemning the act 
     and perpetuation of slavery in the United States of 
     America and across the world.
       Whereas African tribal chiefs captured, enslaved, and sold 
     their captives to transatlantic slave traders.

  You can't tell the story without telling the whole story. You have to 
tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. If there is 
a scintilla of a mistake in what I say, I would beg that people would 
contact me and let me know, because the truth about slavery must be 
told. And the truth is that African people sold other Africans into 
slavery.

       Whereas over the period of the Atlantic slave trade, from 
     approximately 1526 to 1867, millions of humans were abducted 
     and shipped from Africa, and 10,700,000 arrived in the 
     Americas as personal property.
       Whereas the majority of enslaved Africans brought to 
     British North America arrived between 1720 and 1780.

  I do want to emphasize the fact that they were personal property, 
chattels. They could be bought; they could be sold. I do understand 
that this is a part of the history that we don't cherish. It is a part 
of the history that we don't care to recall, but it is a part of the 
history that we must remember.
  We cannot allow ourselves to think, for any amount of time, that 
history will never repeat itself, and we have to be ever vigilant as to 
prevent history

[[Page H3592]]

from repeating itself. This is why we must have a remembrance day.
  This is not the only remembrance day, my dear friends. We remember 9/
11, and it is commemorated for the lives that were lost. We remember 
Pearl Harbor. We remember January 6, the date of the insurrection. And 
my prognostication is that there will be a January 6 remembrance day.
  Days such as these, days that are infamous, should always be 
remembered in the annals of history, and they should forever live in 
infamy. But we have to remember these days.

                              {time}  1145

       Whereas 6 percent of African captives were sent directly to 
     British North America.
       Whereas by 1825, the population of the United States 
     included about one-quarter of the people of African descent 
     in what has been called the New World.
       Whereas the Middle Passage from West Africa to the West 
     Indies was dangerous and horrific for enslaved people.
       Whereas the Middle Passage carried mothers, fathers, 
     children, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, and 
     individuals from all walks of life to slavery in the 
     Americas.
       Whereas although the sexes were separated, men, women and 
     children were kept naked, packed--and even stacked, I might 
     add--but packed close together, and the men were chained for 
     long periods.
       Whereas according to some historians, about 12 percent of 
     those who embarked did not survive the voyage.
       Whereas sharks followed the slave ships to feed on the 
     bodies of slaves thrown overboard.
       Whereas enslaved people suffered a variety of miserable and 
     often fatal maladies due to the Atlantic slave trade and the 
     inhumane living and working conditions.
       Whereas infant and child mortality rates were twice as high 
     among slave children as among Southern White children.
       Whereas enslaved people often worked from sunup to after 
     sundown, 6 to 7 days a week often without food for long 
     periods of time.
       Whereas enslaved Black families lived with the perpetual 
     possibility of separation caused by the sale of one or more 
     family members.

  Stepping aside from the text for a moment, it has to be painful to 
hear this, to know that on the auction block a mother could be 
separated from her children and to know that on that auction block 
families would be separated and could be sent in different directions.
  Human beings were treated as property. The suffering that they 
endured is unthinkable and unimaginable. It was suffering that not even 
the mind of Dante could imagine. They were persons treated, to a 
certain extent, like animals. The enslaved Black families were human 
beings.
  Continuing with the text:

       Whereas it is estimated that approximately one-third of 
     enslaved children in the upper South States of Maryland and 
     Virginia experienced family separation in one of three 
     possible scenarios: sale away from parents, sale with mother 
     away from father, or sale of mother or father away from 
     children.

  These are the horrors of slavery and the evils of slavery that we can 
never ever forget. Just as we never forget other horrors and just as we 
have remembrance days for them, we should have this remembrance day for 
slavery.
  Continuing with the text:

       Whereas Nat Turner was born into slavery in Southampton 
     County, Virginia, in 1800.
       Whereas Southampton County was home to many plantations, 
     and enslaved people outnumbered free Whites.
       Whereas Turner learned to read and write at an early age, a 
     young age, becoming deeply religious.
       Whereas Turner was sold to several different masters over 
     the course of his life, the last time in 1830.
       Whereas Turner preached to his fellow enslaved people 
     developing a loyal following.
       Whereas Turner began planning a revolt with a few trusted 
     fellow enslaved men from neighboring plantations.

  Generally speaking, we honor people who fight being held in 
captivity. Generally speaking, they are held in high esteem, and they 
are celebrated for their desire to be free and their willingness to 
fight for their freedom--generally speaking.
  But one has to ask: Where are all of the statues for Nat Turner?
  Where are all of the resolutions that have been written extolling the 
virtues of Nat Turner?
  The question must be posed: How can we honor those who enslaved to a 
greater extent than we honor those who suffered the horrors of slavery?
  Continuing with the text:

       Whereas Turner began planning a revolt with a few trusted 
     fellow enslaved men from neighboring plantations.
       Whereas Turner's rebellion began in August 1831, quickly 
     growing from a small handful of enslaved individuals to more 
     than 70 enslaved and free Blacks.
       Whereas the rebels went from house to house in Southampton 
     County, freeing enslaved people.
       Whereas the rebels were ultimately defeated by a State 
     militia that had over twice the manpower of the rebels, with 
     three artillery companies reinforcing it.
       Whereas Turner was captured 6 weeks after the rebellion was 
     put down, whereupon he was quickly convicted and sentenced to 
     death.
       Whereas in retaliation for the uprising, Virginia 
     officially executed 56 Black people with at least 100 more 
     killed by militias through extrajudicial violence.

  We are now talking about people who were killed because other people 
fought for their freedom.
  Stepping aside from the text, we can never allow ourselves to 
sanitize the horrors of slavery. This resolution is important. There 
has to be a day of remembrance.

       Whereas the rebellion caused widespread panic among 
     slaveholders throughout the South, resulting in widespread 
     violence against enslaved people.

  Please, Mr. Speaker, understand, I take no great pride in reading 
this and presenting this. There is no great pride in this. There is 
pain. This is sinful and shameful, and we can never forget the horrors 
of slavery.

       Whereas in the wake of the rebellion, the Virginia General 
     Assembly passed legislation making it illegal to teach 
     enslaved free Blacks to read and write.

  I take no pleasure.

       Whereas the Underground Railroad was a network of 
     individuals who helped around 100,000 slaves escape to the 
     North.
       Whereas the railroad began when a conductor often posing as 
     a slave would enter a plantation and attempt to guide 
     runaways.

                                 (1200)

       Whereas the escapees would travel 10 to 20 miles each night 
     between safe houses or ``stations'' to avoid detection, 
     waiting in safe houses for the next along the line to be 
     alerted to their presence.
       Whereas Ms. Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery along the 
     Underground Railroad, a network of abolitionists who guided 
     escaped slaves to the North, traveling primarily at night to 
     avoid bounty hunters.

  My dear friends, my dear brothers and sisters, many of these persons 
were not of African ancestry. We didn't get here by ourselves. There 
were people of goodwill, of many stripes who made it possible for us to 
have these opportunities that we have today. I thank them all. My 
prayer is that there will always be such people of goodwill to assist 
those who find themselves in harm's way, due to injustice.
  Continuing with the text:

       Whereas Ms. Tubman returned to the South no less than 13 
     times to free 70 enslaved persons, including much of her 
     family, for which she would be given the name, Moses.
       Whereas Ms. Tubman deftly led those she saved North during 
     the fall and winter, when there would-be captors stayed 
     inside to avoid the cold.

  Some things bear repeating. Whereas Ms. Tubman deftly led those she 
saved North during the fall and winter, when their would-be captors 
stayed inside to avoid the cold.

       Whereas in Ms. Tubman's own words: ``I never ran my train 
     off the track, and I never lost a passenger.''
       Whereas during the Civil War, Ms. Tubman served as a nurse, 
     scout, spy in the Union Army, becoming the first woman to 
     plan and lead a military operation in the United States, 
     liberating 700 enslaved people in South Carolina.
       Whereas the life of Ms. Tubman continued working to 
     improving the lives of oppressed people, raising funds and 
     building schools, as well as a hospital, in the name of 
     formerly enslaved people, while participating in the women's 
     suffrage movement.
       Whereas John Brown, an abolitionist who ran an important 
     stop on the Underground Railroad, dedicated his life to 
     slavery.
       Whereas John Brown led a militia in guerilla attacks on 
     pro-slavery towns in Kansas, losing one of his sons in the 
     struggle.
       Whereas John Brown, with the help of Harriet Tubman, 
     planned and organized an invasion of the South to free all 
     slaves.

  One has to ask: Where are the statues of John Brown?
  One has to ask: How is it that we have statues within a short 
distance of where I stand now honoring those who would enslave, but not 
honoring those who would set the slaves free?
  One has to ask: How do these things happen?
  But one has to also be appreciative of the fact that their removal is 
almost a certainty now.
  One has to be appreciative of the fact that there are those among us 
who

[[Page H3593]]

have taken up the fight for freedom, and they have brought it to the 
very floor of this House of Representatives.
  I am grateful to those who have concluded that we must remove the 
statues of those who would enslave, and my prayer is we will replace 
them with some statues of those who fought to free the slaves. This is 
my prayer.
  Continuing with the text:

       Whereas John Brown began his invasion at Harpers Ferry, 
     West Virginia, but was surrounded and captured by Federal 
     troops led by Robert E. Lee, losing two more sons in the 
     fight.

  There are still people alive today who don't want John Brown to be 
celebrated. They don't want the people who gave their very last breath, 
the very last ounce of their existence to the cause of freedom. 
Celebrate those who would enslave, but not those who would free the 
slaves.
  I am grateful to those people of goodwill who stand today to continue 
the struggle for liberty and justice for all, as extolled in the Pledge 
of Allegiance.

       Whereas the 13th Amendment was passed by Congress on 
     January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, and 
     provides that ``Neither slavery or involuntary servitude, 
     except as a condition of punishment, except as punishment for 
     a crime whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted, 
     shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to 
     their jurisdiction.''

  There is much more that can be said about the 13th Amendment. Because 
I do not say it at this time, I beg that you not charge me for not 
knowing some of the things that can be said about the 13th Amendment.
  Continuing with the text:

       Whereas beginning in the 20th century, African Americans 
     began to relocate from Southern farms to Southern cities, 
     from the South to the Northeast, Midwest, and West, in a 
     movement known as the Great Migration.
       Whereas the relocation of formerly enslaved individuals and 
     their descendants also included unfavorable and, at times, 
     unjust interactions with law enforcement that often resulted 
     in imprisonment and convict leasing.

  Stepping aside from the text, in Sugar Land, Texas, bodies were 
unearthed. In Sugar Land, Texas, 95 bodies unearthed. Those who study 
these things have concluded that they were likely the victims of 
convict leasing.
  Convict leasing was a means by which slavery was continued by another 
name. Convict leasing allowed laws to be used to have persons who 
committed petty offenses held in jail. They were detained. Couldn't pay 
a fine. These Black Codes, as they were called, allowed for convict 
leasing to continue.
  Persons were arrested for just standing around, not having a job, put 
into the convict leasing program. And 95 such bodies were found of 
persons who are thought to have been victims of convict leasing in 
Sugar Land, Texas. Just outside of my congressional district, I might 
add.
  Continuing with the text:

       Whereas convict leasing, also known as slavery by another 
     name, was a system that allowed persons to lease imprisoned 
     individuals to private entities, often corporations and 
     plantations.
       Whereas the remains of 95 persons thought to be of African 
     ancestry, who were subjected to the State of Texas convict 
     leasing system, were discovered in 2018, at the construction 
     site of Fort Bend Independent School District's James Reese 
     Career and Technical Center in Sugar Land, Texas.

  There is much more to be said about this. In the days and weeks to 
come, I shall say more about this and what has happened to these 95 
persons, human beings, buried, to a certain extent, in a common grave 
area.

       Whereas while slavery was abolished, descendants of the 
     enslaved continue to live with the effects of slavery's 
     progenies: Jim Crow, mass lynchings, segregation, police 
     brutality, mass incarceration, and institutionalized racism.

                              {time}  1215

  Stepping aside from the text, I am a son of the segregated South. I 
have experienced these progenies, some of them. Not all of them, of 
course. I am 73 years of age. I have been blessed to live longer than 
many thought I would, not because of some illness, but because I was 
born Black.
  The prognosticators never projected or prognosticated that I would be 
standing here. There was nothing at my birth that would have given 
anyone reason to believe that I would stand here. And probably there 
was nothing that would give persons reason to believe that I would 
stand here and read this resolution.
  For many, this is a resolution that is not supposed to be filed; it 
is not supposed to be heard.
  I am a liberated Democrat. I am not going to allow my agenda, the 
agenda of those who have suffered, to go unnoticed. It won't happen on 
my watch. As long as I am in this House, I am going to remind us that 
we have a duty and a responsibility, as well as an obligation, to 
understand the evils of slavery and understand how they have not 
evaporated. They have not simply faded away. To this day, the progenies 
of the evils still haunt us. They haunt us in this very House.
  For those who are offended, I beg that you would forgive me, but I 
don't have any recourse. Those who sent me here, they didn't send me 
here to do all that I can to get along and go along. They sent me here 
to try to make a difference. I guess I have a case of the ``can't help 
its.''
  I do what I can do, because I know my history, and I have suffered 
the pain from a progeny of slavery.
  Continuing with the text:

       Whereas despite the horrors of slavery and against all 
     odds, enslaved people became thought leaders and 
     revolutionaries and changed the course of American history.

  Too often they are forgotten, pushed aside.
  Too often, the history that they made is stolen.
  Too often the status quo will wait until they can find a proper 
person to attribute the history to.
  The status quo too often selects the persons that ought to be 
celebrated in history, and too often those persons are not the persons 
who suffered to bring the history to a better place.
  The status quo has many ways to defend itself. The status quo can do 
it with the power of appointment.
  The status quo can do it by acknowledging people and ignoring others.
  The status quo has many ways to defend itself.
  I am reminded of the words of Voltaire. He reminds us that--and I am 
paraphrasing--it is dangerous to be right in matters where the 
established powers are wrong.
  So the status quo defends itself, and the true history is not always 
known. There will come a time, however, when the truth about some of 
the history I am aware of will be made known.
  Mr. Chairman, the House is not in order. Someone appears to be on the 
phone in the House. I ask that we kindly investigate. This is a matter 
of serious concern, and a person ought not be on the phone in the 
House. It is contrary to the rules of the House. A person ought not do 
this when a serious matter is being discussed on the floor of the House 
of Representatives.
  Doesn't matter who that person is, by the way. And if the person 
doesn't stop, I will put the person's name in the Record, because I 
know who it is. I am not going to suffer that kind of disrespect.

       Resolved, this resolution may be cited as the ``Original 
     Slavery Remembrance Day Resolution of 2021.'' That is section 
     1 in the short title.
       Section 2, Slavery Remembrance Day.
       That the House of Representatives:
       One, supports the designation of a ``Slavery Remembrance 
     Day'' to serve as a reminder of the evils of slavery.
       Two, condemns slavery and its evil progenies; and 
     encourages all to acknowledge the importance of slavery 
     remembrance.

  I am grateful to the Speaker for allowing the time. I am grateful to 
the majority leader. I am grateful to the whip. I am grateful to all of 
the chairs. I am grateful to the many persons who are cosponsors of 
this resolution.
  As I indicated, it was coming to me as I was moving to the floor, and 
I have found a note from my staff. I am eternally grateful to my staff.
  Seventy-seven cosponsors. These are the persons who are part of what 
I believe to be a historic resolution.
  Those who are not should not be condemned. We simply but only ask 
that they would become cosponsors, and this can be accomplished quite 
easily. Contact my office and let us know that you would like to be a 
cosponsor. The love we have for you is not diminished one scintilla 
because you are not an original; it is not. I am not that kind of guy. 
I am interested in having persons of goodwill become a part of this 
resolution. And there is much more that will be said and done as we 
move forward with the resolution.
  I thank all of the persons who are here today. I appreciate the fact 
that

[[Page H3594]]

this House functions as efficaciously as it does.
  I am going to remember who was standing with the gavel at hand. I am 
going to remember the faces. This is a special moment in time. I will 
remember those who were to speak after me.
  I will remember this wonderful lady who is seated over to my left, 
who has always been so kind and so generous and gentle.
  I will remember the person who has prevented someone else from 
talking on the phone and who doesn't allow it to happen in this House 
when there is business before this House. She is evenhanded; she treats 
all of us the same.
  I will remember the Parliamentarian, who has allowed his COVID beard 
to continue. That is just a joke, friends. I want to bring a bit of 
levity. But the Parliamentarian has been very helpful, and all of those 
who are associated with the office, have been very helpful.
  I pray that on the August 20 or before, this resolution will receive 
a vote in this House so that this House can go on record, as it has 
gone on record for many other things, as supporting Slavery Remembrance 
Day.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my honor now to yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________