Original Black History Month Resolution of 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, tonight we will take up H. Res. 597, the Original Black History Month Resolution of 2016.

This resolution is one that has been endorsed by and cosponsored by 24 Members of the House. I want to thank each of them for their support of this resolution. It was introduced on February 2, 2016. I also want to thank the leadership for allowing us to have this time tonight to talk about Black history.

More specifically, tonight we are going to talk about Black history as it relates to hallowed grounds, the sites of African American memories. But before going there, I think it appropriate to note that the House of Representatives has passed Black history resolutions since 2007.

In 2007, the 110th Congress, we had a resolution that passed. It passed by voice vote. In 2008, the resolution passed 367-0. In 2009, it passed 420-0. In 2010, 402-0. Since 2010, of course, we have not taken votes on any resolutions, generally speaking.

I am honored to speak at this time of hallowed grounds, sites of African American memories. I am honored to do so because there are many persons who have made great sacrifices so that many of us would have the opportunities that we have. Many persons have suffered great pain so that some individuals can have great gains.

Tonight we will discuss some of the pain because pain is associated with hallowed grounds.

There are some things that we should never forget. We should never and cannot forget--nor should we--Pearl Harbor. This is a place where we have hallowed grounds. I have been to Pearl Harbor, and I know of the memorial that is there.

We should not forget 9/11 and the World Trade Center. Hallowed grounds exist on the site where the World Trade Center was taken down.

Because atrocities can sometimes create these hallowed grounds, we will sometimes find that things that we have to say are not always appealing, but the truth is that we cannot sanitize history.

Efforts to sanitize history will only create what we call his story, someone else's version, but it is not the true history.

Tonight we will not sanitize, but we will, in fact, be truthful about some of those hallowed grounds. Some of them have atrocious events associated with them.

Let us start with hallowed grounds, places, sites, if you will, of Black history and some of the memories--not all good--associated with the African American lives that have been lost in this country, unfortunately.

Let us start with Mother Bethel AME Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, established in 1794. This is a place that is, without question, of hallowed ground, because this place is the home of one of the Underground Railroads to freedom.

It was the Union Station, if you will, of the Underground Railroad to freedom, where slaves would be stationed and they could receive sanctuary as they were moving from this country to Canada and moving to freedom.

This church was founded by the Honorable Richard Allen, who was a former slave himself, and became the founder of the AME Church. In fact, he was the first bishop of the church.

This site, if you will, had many people who were, but for the people who were there to give them aid and comfort, who were lost and were people who were trying to find their way on freedom's road, the Underground Railroad, if you will, to freedom, the Underground Railroad.

Well, I am going to quote now Harriet Tubman, because Harriet Tubman reminded us of something that is important as it relates to African American history and some of the incidents that we will talk about.

Harriet Tubman reminded us that she freed 1,000 slaves, but she went on to say: ``I could have freed another thousand if they had only known that they were slaves.'' If they had only known that they were slaves, they, too, could have been freed.

The point that she was making is--and was--that people who are held in servitude can become so conditioned to their servitude that they don't really understand the condition that they are actually existing under and, as a result, they accept it.

Harriet Tubman did not. Those who were part of the Underground Railroad to freedom did not accept servitude, and they wanted to have freedom; and this place, this church, Mother Bethel, was a place of freedom and a sanctuary for those who were seeking new opportunities and a better life in a better place.

Another site, another place for us to remember the hallowed grounds that led to freedom, Seneca Village in New York City. The time of its existence was from 1825 to 1857. It was the site of a free middle class community. It was a small village, founded by Black people in 1825. And it is interesting to note that 10 percent of the African American voters who lived in New York lived in Seneca Village--10 percent.

There were other persons living there as well. The Irish were there. The Germans were there. These were immigrants as well.

The unfortunate circumstance about this hallowed ground, however, is that it was razed. Seneca Village was razed so that Central Park could rise. And the unfortunate circumstance further is that the stain of invidious eminent domain is Central Park's shame. It is so unfortunate that people were forced to leave their homes so that Central Park could have a home.

Another site that we will mention tonight is Freedmen's Town, the historic district in Houston, Texas. Freedmen's Town was one of the first and the largest of the post-Civil War Black urban communities in the United States. It was settled by emancipated slaves in 1866. Although African Americans lived in Houston before and during the Civil War, Freedmen's Town represents the first community of free Black Houstonians in the city. It was, however, more than just a community. It was, indeed, a town. It had the infrastructure. It had the streets that were made of brick. It had lawyers and doctors. It had persons who were teachers, professionals, artisans, tradesmen.

I had the privilege of going into Freedmen's Town not so long ago to the home of one of the prominent lawyers who lived there at that time.

Preserving Freedmen's Town has become quite a challenge, but there are people in the community and Fourth Ward who are committed to its preservation. I will mention one such person. This would be Ms. Gladys House, who has worked tirelessly to maintain the character and infrastructure in Freedmen's Town.

Another site would be Greenwood, the Greenwood community, also known as Black Wall Street. This was in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was the site of a race riot in 1921. This riot lasted from May 31 to June 1, when the unthinkable--the unthinkable--occurred. The unthinkable occurred because of an allegation of a Black male assaulting a White female. A sexual assault was alleged. I don't know that it was ever proven. I haven't been able to find anyplace in the readings and the research that I have done to substantiate the fact that it was proven. But it was alleged, an attempted sexual assault, if you will.

This attack on this community of African Americans led to 10,000 people being left homeless--10,000--35 or more city blocks were destroyed by fire, and estimates range from 39 to 300 people having been killed by various sources. We have found this to be the information that we can share. The residents rebuilt the community within 5 years. However, the community later declined because of desegregation in the mid-20th century.

This incident, however, is something that we can never forget, just as we can't forget Pearl Harbor, just as we can't forget 9/11. The incident was something that took place and had the blessings of the constabulary. The police actually helped set fire to the property of the people who lived there. Later, a police chief apologized, and this was done in September of 2013. An apology was given for the attack that took place many years before, between May 31 and June 1 of 1921.

Hallowed ground.

We should remember the Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market in Money, Mississippi, because on August 28, 1955, Emmett Till was murdered in Money, Mississippi. He was murdered because of an allegation of his having accosted a White female.

In these times, we don't like to discuss it. I know that it makes some uncomfortable. But during these times, it was dangerous for Black men to speak in an unkind way to a White female. In fact, it was unkind for them to look at White females in a certain way. As a result, many Black men lost their lives because of allegations that were never proven with reference to flirting or attempted rape, in many cases.

Well, as the case was with Emmett Till, he was a 14-year-old child from Chicago. He did not know the ways of the South. His mother had given him warnings before he left, but her admonitions were not enough. At some point, he went into this store, and the owner's wife alleges that he made a pass at her, if you will. Some said he whistled; others said he winked. There are many accounts, but it was never proven that he did anything.

After learning of this alleged incident, the owner of the store, with a friend, literally went into the home of Emmett Till, went into his home and took him from his home. They took him away and they beat him. They took him to a river, the Tallahatchie River, and after actually bludgeoning his eyes out, they threw him in the river, and his body was later discovered. His mother was so shocked, and the country was so shocked by what happened, that it instigated a movement in the country. Much of the movement led to the civil rights movement.

But the one thing that happened that his mother did that made a difference for many of us who are alive today was she allowed him to have an open casket so that the world could see the horrors of invidious segregation.

In 1955, what happened, his death, led to the passage of the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007. His death in 1955 led to the passage of this act in 2007. It was introduced by Congressman John Lewis, and it authorizes $13.5 million annually, over a 10-year period, for Federal investigations of civil rights violations resulting in death prior to 1970.

However, it is interesting to note, and I hope that all within the sound of my voice will hear this, the bill has never been funded. The bill has never been funded.

The next site that we shall visit will be the National City Lines, and we will talk about bus No. 2857 in Montgomery, Alabama. The time of the Montgomery Bus Boycott was 1955 through 1956. It lasted 381 days. This bus boycott took place because of invidious discrimination alleged and occurring--excuse me, because it actually happened--against Ms. Rosa Parks.

Ms. Parks was a passenger on the bus and was required to give up her seat, which she refused to do not because she was tired of working, but because she was tired of invidious discrimination, if you will. She was tired of having to surrender her seat to persons simply because of her hue, the hue of her skin, so she refused to get up from her seat, and her actions started a boycott that lasted 381 days.

But there was also a lawsuit that was filed, Browder v. Gayle, and that lawsuit went all the way to the Supreme Court. The boycott and the lawsuit complemented each other.

Many times you need the protest movement to let those who are in power know that you are not satisfied with your circumstances, and they protested for the 381 days. The Supreme Court ruled, and they ruled that this type of segregation was unconstitutional. As a result, Dr. King became very prominent in the country. Ms. Rosa Parks, of course, did, as well as Reverend Abernathy.

Another site, the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and January 10, 1957, was the date the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was born at this church. This church was a church home of many of the civil rights leaders that participated in many of the boycotts that took place. It was after the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott that Dr. King invited other leaders to associate themselves with him and the civil rights movement at this church. The church became a national historic site in 1980.

Another site that we should remember in memorializing and making note of historic places that are a part of hallowed grounds for African Americans would be Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.

September 1957, this was the date that a desegregation effort took place, and there was much resistance to this desegregation. This occurred 3 years after the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. There were nine young children who tried to attend this all-White Little Rock Central High School, and these nine young children were accosted; they were threatened.

The violence that you could see on the faces of the persons who did not want innocent children in their school is something that you will remember. If ever you have an opportunity to review some of the old news reels, you can see the anger that I speak of. President Eisenhower ended up having to use Federal troops to desegregate this school. The event was heavily televised, and the news stories are available for those who would like to see.

Another site would be the Woolworth's Store, the five-and-dime, in Greensboro, North Carolina. This was the place where four young Black males decided that they were going to have a sit-in.

Sit-in simply means that they were going to either be served, or they would sit there until they were served or removed.

These students showed the kind of resistance that inspired others around the country to take up the same cause, to decide that they too would engage in sit-ins. While this was not the first sit-in, it is one of the most famous, if not the most famous sit-in, and the Woolworth's Store was finally desegregated in 1965.

Hallowed grounds.

Another site to remember is the Birmingham jail in Birmingham, Alabama. April 16, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King wrote his ``Letter from Birmingham Jail,'' one of the most celebrated pieces of literary history. This letter has been studied by historians and is considered one of his most important works.

He, in this letter, defines the nonviolent civil rights movement. It was this letter that was published in the Liberation Magazine in June of 1963 that led many people to understand the horrors of the civil rights movement, the horrors that civil rights workers suffered during the civil rights movement, and some of the suffering that people were enduring who were living under segregation.

Another site to remember would be the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. August 28 of 1963 is when Dr. King gave his famous ``I Have a Dream'' speech.

This march was one of the most successful in the country's history. 200,000 to 300,000 people attended. This march helped to popularize the movement and support necessary for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Another site to remember as we review hallowed grounds, sites of African American memories, would be the 16th Street Baptist Church. On September 15 of 1963, a dastardly terrorist act occurred right here in the United States of America in Birmingham, Alabama.

Terrorists bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church, killing 4 young girls, and 22 others were wounded. The church was repaired and reopened on June 7 of 1964. In 1980, it was added to the National Registry as a historical place.

Another site of hallowed grounds is the Edmond Pettus Bridge. Much is always talked about when we talk about hallowed grounds with respect to the Edmund Pettus Bridge because, on March 7, 1965, about 600 peaceful protesters were attacked and assaulted by the constabulary.

They were beaten back to the place where they started their march. The Honorable John Lewis was a member of this group of persons, peaceful protesters, who wanted to march from Selma to Montgomery. This violence against the marchers was televised.

One of the things that we have noticed as we reviewed these sites and these incidents, these atrocities, is that television helped to change the American psyche because people had an opportunity by way of television to see what others were actually experiencing, very much akin to what we are seeing now with cell phones and some of the things that are happening to persons at the hands of the constabulary.

Much of what people would say others did not believe. But when you have the actual pictures to see the representation by way of pictures, it can make a difference in the psyche of people.

As a result of this march, many having suffered, we found that the civil rights law of 1965 was passed. This was done because people suffered and because the Edmund Pettus Bridge became a place for us to memorialize as hallowed grounds.

Moving forward, the civil rights acts, many of them--the history of those who were able to accomplish things by way of the courts is all predicated upon a lot of suffering that took place in this country. Too many people suffered so that I could have the opportunity to be here tonight to talk about these hallowed grounds.

I feel that it is my duty to do this. I know that talking about these things can create a good deal of discomfort for people. We ought to feel a certain amount of discomfort because what happened was, without question, something that this country should never want to see happen again and should never have happened ever to anyone.

But we must remember our history just as we are going to remember Pearl Harbor, just as we are going to remember 9/11, and just as we are going to remember World Wars I and II.

We have to remember the history in this country, the atrocities that occurred against African Americans as they were trying their very best to live peaceful lives. Hallowed grounds, the sites of African American memories.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you for the time tonight to bring up these hallowed grounds and to talk about Black History Month, especially as it relates to some of the things that happened in this country.

But I also want to say this, Mr. Speaker. Notwithstanding all of the things that I have said and all of the memories that I have recounted, it is important for us to note that the country has truly come a long way.

I still contend that, notwithstanding all of the atrocities, this is a great place for Americans of all hues to find their way in the world.

This is a special country. I love my country, but I don't forget the things that happened in my country to cause us to memorialize certain places as hallowed ground.

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