[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 70 (Tuesday, April 21, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H2999-H3000]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              AMERICA IS GREAT BECAUSE AMERICA CAN CHANGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair now recognizes the Member from 
Delaware (Representative McBride) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. McBRIDE. Mr. Speaker, last week, I had the privilege of visiting 
a historic landmark in Delaware formerly known as the Hockessin Colored 
School, which stands as a physical reminder of both the sin of 
segregation that scars our history and the change that is possible when 
dedicated citizens dare to build a more perfect Union, one that lives 
up to our values and our promise.
  This small building served as an elementary school for Black students 
in Delaware from the 1920s until the 1950s, a time when legal 
segregation still reigned and race determined where you could be 
educated in our State.
  Recently preserved through a mix of public and private dollars and 
through the tireless work of the friends of the Hockessin Colored 
School, the building profiles the students, teachers, and families who 
relied on that school and who fought to make Delaware the first legally 
segregated State in America to end Jim Crow in our schools.
  Now, one of three sites in Delaware that are part of the Brown v. 
Board of Education National Historical Park, it tells the story of 
Sarah Bulah, whose daughter would watch the bus pass her by on its way 
to an all-White school and who dared to fight to end legal 
discrimination in education for her daughter and all students.
  In 1952, the first Black attorney barred in Delaware, Louis Redding, 
represented the Bulah family in court, securing a win at the State 
level that would ultimately be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, 
consolidated alongside four other cases into Brown v. Board of 
Education. The courage of parents and students across the country like 
the Bulahs eventually led to the unanimous decision to cast aside 
separate but equal and end racial discrimination in our schools across 
the country.
  The greatest privilege of my visit was meeting Mr. James ``Sonny'' 
Knott, who attended the Hockessin Colored School in the 1930s and, 
after living history, has helped preserve it for future generations.
  Mr. Sonny walked me through the building recounting stories of his 
childhood and his memories within that school. He showed me a picture 
of his mom on the wall sitting right next to Sarah Bulah. He shared 
with me that he and his classmates never dreamed of a different world 
because the segregation of their childhood was all that they knew. He 
shared his and his fellow alumni's determination to protect that 
history and to inspire the students of today to believe in the 
possibility for progress before us, to continue our long march toward 
freedom and justice for all.
  We have a long way to go, but hope flourishes from the knowledge of 
how far we have come. The stories told in this one-room schoolhouse are 
the stories of students and our State, of our classmates and our 
country.
  As I stood there in the middle of that landmark, side by side with 
Mr. Sonny, looking at a picture of him sitting in the Oval Office with 
the President of the United States as he designated his school a 
national historical park 80 years after attending it, I was reminded of 
a simple but profound truth: America is great because America can 
change.


       Commemorating 120th Anniversary of Congregation Beth Emeth

  Ms. McBRIDE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 120th 
anniversary of Congregation Beth Emeth, a generational cornerstone of 
the Jewish community in Wilmington and the surrounding areas.
  A welcoming, inclusive, and engaging congregation, Beth Emeth has 
been celebrating, supporting, and shaping the experience of Jewish 
Delawareans for over a century and stands as a testament to the power 
of institutions of faith to bring people together, bridge divides, and 
to create spaces around shared purpose and compassion.
  From their beginning in 1905 to the present, spiritual leaders have 
spoken at the Beth Emeth congregation. Whether in the home, school, or 
at work, rabbi after rabbi have transformed the Jewish community of 
Wilmington with passion and commitment

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to address social problems and societal wrongs.
  Today, in their 120th year, Beth Emeth continues to strive to build a 
community rooted in acceptance, respect, peace, kindness, justice, and 
integrity, moral imperatives that continue to shape their work and the 
community around them.
  I am grateful for their stewardship and leadership in the history of 
Wilmington, their role as a pillar of the Reform Jewish community in 
Delaware, and all that they do for their neighbors.
  To the Beth Emeth community, I congratulate you on your thriving 
community of faith and your legacy. May the next century be full of 
continued community building and loving leadership of the Jewish 
community in Delaware and beyond.

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