Recognizing 155th Anniversary of 13th Amendment
Floor Speech
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Mr. MFUME. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina for convening us to commemorate this 155th anniversary of the ratification of our 13th Amendment.
It is difficult sometimes for many of us to look back at history because it was so painful, but it is important so that we understand where we are and how we got here.
The enslavement of the Negro, the extermination of the Indian, the annexation of the Hispanic made, in many respects, the birth of our Republic an iniquitous conception. It was conceived under the concept that White men were superior to Black men and, therefore, entitled to oppress them, harass them, and, if necessary, destroy them.
We all talk about, as has been mentioned here today, the words of the Declaration of Independence and how this is a nation that believes that all men and women are created equal and that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among those shall be life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
But the great historian John Hope Franklin reminded us that, many years after those words were written, we still existed in a society where slavery was the order of the day. In fact, it was the great historian John Hope Franklin who referred to it as the great evil institution of American servitude.
It would be the 13th Amendment that would, to a large extent, end that and give us what we are celebrating here today.
But even after Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, it was still several years before we got to the 13th Amendment, which ended slavery; the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed citizenship and due process; and then the 15th Amendment, which gave us and ratified for us the right to vote.
I think that, without a doubt, when we look back on all that has happened, particularly considering how we got here, that this commemoration is important. It is overdue. It ought to be an annual celebration.
I, again, thank the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina for convening us.
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