[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 12]
[EXTENSI]
[Pages 16610-16611]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



EXPRESSING SENSE OF HOUSE THAT WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM PRESENTS 
          UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS GLOBAL DISCRIMINATION

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 30, 2001

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my 
severe disappointment regarding the lack of engagement by the United 
States in the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial 
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, August 31-September 
7, 2001, in Durban South Africa.
  The United States has an extraordinary perspective on racism. It has 
made great strides towards addressing some of its problems. When the 
original Constitution was enacted, it declared African-Americans to be 
three-fifths of a human being. During Reconstruction, this very body 
initially refused to seat the first African-American Members of 
Congress. Today, there are thirty-nine African-American Members of 
Congress and numerous Cabinet officials. Though we have a long way to 
go with regards to race relations, we have come a long way.
  This Nation presided over a slave trade that will go down in world 
history as one of the most grotesque examples of man's inhumanity to 
man. Once slavery was abolished, due in large part to pressure from 
other nations, parts of the United States then enacted codes designed 
to deny African-Americans their full citizenship rights. As abhorrent 
as this pattern

[[Page 16611]]

was, Americans of good conscience rose to the challenge and implemented 
laws to ensure equal treatment under the law. We have a long way to go, 
but we have come a long way.
  This Administration owed it to all Americans to deliver the message 
of possibility to the world. Yet, unfortunately, this administration 
approached this conference with little interest and a miniscule 
commitment to engagement. Representatives of this Administration 
stymied the preparation that began during the previous Administration. 
Therefore, its withdrawal from the conference was not a surprise.
  And while the actions in Durban were not surprising, hope that the 
refusal to discuss differences does not become the trademark of this 
Administration and mar its ability to engage in constructive dialogue 
about civil and human rights in this country. The withdrawal from 
Durban, combined with the lack of a domestic civil rights policy, an 
unwillingness to proceed with much-needed election reform and the 
glaring refusal to end racial profiling, leads me to doubt this 
Administration's ability to candidly and fairly address issues of race 
and diversity within this country.
  Mr. Speaker, racism in real. Discrimination is real. The argument for 
reparations should be openly discussed and seriously debated in this 
country. America must face its current racial reality and reconcile 
with its inglorious racial past. I suggest that Members of this House 
begin our national healing by passing a resolution which offers an 
acknowledgement of the sufferings caused by slavery and an official 
apology for governmental actions which perpetrated their condition. If 
we, as Representatives of the United States Government, cannot 
apologize for this sorry and unfortunate history, our future will be 
forever marred and our enemies will be able to say that the United 
States left Durban because it did not want to address its own history.
  I call upon the Congress and the President to show the leadership 
necessary to begin healing within our country.

                          ____________________