Racial Justice in America

Floor Speech

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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, and still I rise. And I rise today with an expression of gratitude and great appreciation.

I thank the many persons who voted for H.R. 2543, the Financial Services Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Economic Justice Act. I rise to thank persons for this because I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to manage the bill on the floor.

The Honorable Maxine Waters is the sponsor of this piece of legislation. It is a compilation of some 13 bills that were used and packaged so that we could bring about some racial justice in this country. Racial justice that is long overdue, I might add.

The Honorable Maxine Waters, but for her, I can say without reservation, hesitation, or equivocation, this bill would not have come to fruition. She has been a champion for those who have been left out, left behind, locked out, those that I label as being among the least, the last, and the lost.

The least, those who don't inherit a legacy of wealth but, rather, a legacy of poverty. The least, those are persons who are still finding themselves living in the streets of life.

The last, those are the last hired and the first fired.

The lost, those who are lost in the richest country in the world, but lost perhaps in chemical consumption, drugs, if you will, lost because of mental issues, but they are lost in the richest country in the world. She has been a champion for them.

I will always be grateful to her for working with me to help me to acquire a position on the Financial Services Committee. I think that probably but for her, I might not have the position that I have. So I know that she is not doing well today, but she will be back, and I want her to know today that I am appreciative for the many opportunities that I have acquired by virtue of her being there at the right time when these opportunities were available.

I also thank the Members who had those bills, the 13 bills: Mrs. Joyce Beatty, Mr. Auchincloss, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Torres, and of course, Ms. Waters, had a bill as well. I had two bills associated with this package.

This package, the Financial Services Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Economic Justice Act, why is it needed? Why is it needed on this day some few days away from Juneteenth? And I celebrate Juneteenth, by the way. I commend my colleague, Ms. Jackson Lee, for her work on Juneteenth.

I knew the father of Juneteenth, Al Edwards. Al Edwards was a State representative in Texas, and he was a person who was tenacious about Juneteenth. It was his legislation that passed the Texas House and Senate and was signed by the Governor of the State of Texas, making Juneteenth a holiday at a time when, quite frankly, people thought that it was impossible to get it done.

Al Edwards, the father of Juneteenth, I always remember him, a dear friend. We celebrated Juneteenth together on many occasions. We traversed the State together. He was one of my supporters. I know his family. His brother was a banker, Redick Edwards. He was my banker, as a matter of fact. So I have a relationship with this family. I want the world to know that I am appreciative for what he did to lay the foundation for Juneteenth as a holiday at the national level.

I also express my appreciation for what Juneteenth is all about. General Gordon Granger came into Galveston, Texas, in 1865. The Emancipation Proclamation had been signed. The war had ended, but in Texas, the slaves were not accorded their freedom. Some people say that the word hadn't reached Texas. I differ. The word reached Texas, but the slaveholders saw those slaves as personal property, and they saw no reason to give up their personal property simply because Mr. Lincoln signed an Emancipation Proclamation or simply because the war was over. That was their personal property.

It is said that someone was sent, an envoy, if you will, to make it known to people in Texas that the slaves had been freed. This is prior to General Gordon Granger arriving in Galveston, Texas in 1865. Well, they said that that person didn't quite get the message across, and one can well understand why, given the behavior of Texas, a State that seceded from the Union and also seceded from Mexico because of slavery.

They were recalcitrant--and that is being kind--about the desire to maintain slavery. But President Lincoln sent General Gordon Granger.

To say that he sent General Gordon Granger, quite frankly, is an incomplete statement. He sent General Gordon Granger and 2,000 troops. General Gordon Granger, being the wise man that he was, brought those troops with him, but they also had some friends with them. They had Mr. Winchester, Smith & Wesson. They were well equipped to present this message to the slaveholders. When it was presented with 2,000 troops who were well armed, it was received.

It was the next year that the first Juneteenth celebration took place. That was in 1866, the first celebration.

This is what Al Edwards shared with me about Juneteenth, the actual moniker, the name for the holiday. It was his position that it became known as ``Juneteenth'' because there was some question about the date that General Gordon Granger arrived, within the minds of the slaves, whether it was on the 18th or the 19th. Rather than continue a debate about the actual date, it simply became ``Juneteenth,'' and folks can fill in the blank as they choose. 1866 was a big celebration of Juneteenth, a celebration of freedom.

Again, I commend the father, Al Edwards, and I commend my colleague, Ms. Jackson Lee, for her stellar work here in Congress to work Juneteenth through to the point that it is now a Federal holiday. I commend both of them. I commend the many people who voted for it.

Today, I thank the people who voted for that holiday, but I also thank the people who voted for H.R. 2543. I greatly appreciate the fact that you voted for the Financial Services Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Economic Justice Act because that act is needed.

There has to be some question as to why it is needed more than 150 years after the end of slavery. Why would we need a Financial Services Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Economic Justice Act these many years later?

Well, rather than give you my opinion about it, I am going to read to you from a report presented by the Brookings Institution. Brookings is well known and well respected. Let's just see what Brookings says. This was published on February 27, 2020. Not a lot has changed since February 27, 2020, so let's examine what they at the Brookings Institution have shared with us with reference to the Black folk in this country.

It is styled, the article, ``Examining the Black-White Wealth Gap.'' Hear now the words of the Brookings Institution: ``A close examination of wealth in the U.S. finds evidence of staggering racial disparities. At $171,000, the net worth of a typical White family is nearly 10 times greater than that of a Black family, which is $17,150.'' This was in 2016.

2016, White family's worth: $171,000. This is the net worth. Black family's net worth: $17,150. Over 150 years since the end of the Civil War, more than 400 years since the first Africans were brought here as slaves in 1619, 400 years have passed, and we still have this wage gap.

It goes on to read: ``Gaps in wealth between Black and White households reveal the effects of accumulated inequality and discrimination, as well as differences in power and opportunity that can be traced back to this Nation's inception.''

``Traced back to this Nation's inception.'' This is the Brookings Institution. ``Traced back to this Nation's inception.''

``The Black-White wealth gap reflects a society that has not and does not afford equality of opportunity to all its citizens.''

Equality of opportunity is the opportunity--these are my words--to succeed on your merits or fail on your demerits, the opportunity for you to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. The society, according to Brookings, does not afford equality of opportunity to all its citizens.

It goes on to indicate: ``Efforts by Black Americans to build wealth can be traced back throughout American history. But these efforts have been impeded in a host of ways, beginning with 246 years of chattel slavery followed by congressional mismanagement of the Freedman's Savings Bank.''

This bank was established after the slaves were freed to provide them an opportunity to accumulate wealth. They were free, but they were just free to the elements. They didn't have property that they owned. They were free to have persons abuse them. They were in a hostile environment. They were among people who had held them as property, people who had no desire to see their property taken from them.

So they were free, but they were free to the wind, the rains, the elements, free to starve, and free to survive if they could. But that level of freedom was supposed to be curtailed with the Freedman's Savings Bank.

Well, the bank started with the best of intentions. According to the history I have read, it was the idea of Frederick Douglass and was supposed to give the freed slaves an opportunity to acquire wealth, to save money, to understand the process of saving money, by the way. For people who had never had money--imagine this--never had money, what do you do with it if you acquire some? Many of them were working for the Union Army, and they were getting paid. So what do you do with this thing called money?

Well, this bank was a place where they were supposed to be able to save. Unfortunately, there was mismanagement. Congress did not put in the proper safeguards so that it could continue to exist in perpetuity, and it left some 61,144 depositors with losses of nearly $3 million in 1874.

Then, there were persons who sought to move ahead, notwithstanding circumstances, and there was this area in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tulsa's Greenwood District.

Here is what is said by Brookings with reference to Greenwood. It reads: ``The violent massacre decimating Tulsa's Greenwood District in 1921, a population of 10,000 that thrived as the epicenter of African- American business and culture, commonly referred to as `Black Wall Street,' ''--Black Wall Street was decimated. This was an opportunity for people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, to find a means by which they could have commerce among themselves. They were of no threat to the broader community, but they had Black Wall Street taken away from them, literally destroyed.

Thereafter, we had the discriminatory policies throughout the 20th century, including Jim Crow-era Black codes, laws that applied specifically to Black people. If you weren't working, you could be incarcerated if you were Black.

This is not contained here, but you had the convict leasing that took place, which was another form of slavery. A person would be arrested for some minor offense and then placed in the hands of a landowner to work--leased, as it were, from the State. Some of these persons would work for the rest of their lives for some minor offense. They became slaves by another name, leased convicts.

So, we had Black codes limiting opportunities in many Southern States.

Along came the GI Bill. We are fast-forwarding now, and this is part of the article that I am reading. The GI Bill benefited and still benefits--a good many people who are right here in this Congress benefited from the GI Bill. Few Black people did. Very few Black people benefited from the GI Bill. The statistical information is overwhelming in terms of the number that did not, small numbers.

Of the thousands that initially benefited from it, numbers less than 10 were Black. Thousands, with 10 maybe, or less, that were Black. There are some people who give a specific number on it at less than 10. But let's just leave it with the fact that there were less than 10 who benefited from it among thousands.

Here is why they didn't benefit. They didn't benefit because if you wanted to get a mortgage to buy property, which is what the GI Bill would afford you, the banks wouldn't lend money in Black neighborhoods. If you were Black and you walked into the bank, that in and of itself was a denial of the loan. Your presence, your skin complexion, that was the denial of your loan because banks were not lending to people living in Black neighborhoods.

Well, someone would say: But, Al, how did they know they were living in a Black neighborhood? Because you couldn't live in a White neighborhood. You couldn't live among people who could get loans. There were restrictive covenants. The law said they couldn't live there, and they were denied the opportunity to acquire land, which was another means of amassing wealth.

By the way, this was not the first time people of color were denied the opportunity to acquire land. In the early years in this country, if you could fence in land and you could protect it, you could squat. It became yours. All you had to do was fence it in and protect it. Black people were not afforded that opportunity.

So, here we are, a few days away from Juneteenth, which I will celebrate and appreciate, but I want you to understand why there was a need for H.R. 2543, the Financial Services Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Economic Justice Act. There was a need for it. There is a need for it, and it passed this Congress.

So we find ourselves now with the GI Bill and other circumstances that did not inure to the benefit of Black people.

According to this article, another circumstance was redlining. Redlining is where literally a red line was drawn around certain areas, and those who were in the business of selling and buying real estate, they rarely wanted to buy that land, so it became a place where people of color lived and the people of color could not get loans to upgrade their property, they could not get the loans needed to improve their lives because the banks were not lending.

So this wealth that many people have, the wealth that they have is something that they acquired in ways that were associated with the government that locked Black people out. This--according to the article now--history matters for contemporary inequality, in part, because its legacy is passed down generation to generation. Repeat. This history matters for contemporary inequality, meaning the inequality we see today, in part, because its legacy is passed down generation to generation through unequal monetary inheritances which make up a great deal of current wealth, meaning a good many of the people who have the current wealth they acquired this wealth by being born.

A good many people make their first million dollars by being born, just coming into the world, coming into the world in the right family. And these inheritances are passed down from generation to generation through unequal monetary inheritances, which make up a good deal of the current wealth.

Interesting fact: In 2020 Americans are projected to inherit about $765 billion in gifts. In 2020, Americans are projected to inherit about $765 billion in gifts and bequests. I assure you only a marginal amount of this will be inherited by Black people.

Excluding wealth transfers to spouses and transfers that support minor children, inheritances account for roughly 4 percent of annual household income. Black people have little to pass on, therefore, there is very little that is inherited. And as a result there is no transfer of wealth from one generation to the next to speak of.

It is really a sad state of affairs when you really think about it. We have been so conditioned to accept our circumstances in life that this sad state of affairs is just normal to us. It is just as we have embraced it almost. It is just the way things are. Things don't have to be this way. That is why H.R. 2543 is needed.

Let me remind you one more time that Black people in this country have wealth that is about one-tenth of what White people have, about one-tenth of what they have. That, my friends, is something that is unacceptable. And it is not because Black people won't work hard. It is not because they don't have good work ethics. No, it is because a system that we exist within has been so structured that not only did we fail to acquire wealth, couldn't acquire it early on in the history of the country, but this system still prevents Black people from acquiring wealth.

I come to the floor and talk about these issues quite regularly, and there are some people who have asked me why am I so passionate about these issues?

Well, why do I persist when I could easily just go on with my life?

And I have had people tell me: You are doing all right. You are doing well. You have all of the trappings of a middle-class person. Why would you do this?

Because I haven't always been where I am now, and because I have a memory.

I know what it is like to live in poverty.

I know what it is like to be discriminated against. I am a son of the segregated south. Those rights that the Constitution recognized as belonging to me, my friends and neighbors took them away. They denied them.

I know what it is like to drink from a colored water fountain.

I know what it is like to go to a back door to get your food. And I know what it is like for the law to say that you have to go to that back door to get your food.

I know what it is like to stand in a separate line in the supermarket and have to wait until all of the persons who are White are served before you can be served.

I know what it is like to be born in a racist society. Believe me. I was born into the south. I am 74 years old. I know what racism smells like. I know what it looks like, I know what it tastes like, I know what it sounds like, and I know what it hurts like.

So my passion emanates from the suffering and the understanding of what it is like to live in a hostile environment.

My friends, Black people are still living in a hostile environment. We don't like to acknowledge it, we want to believe otherwise, but it is a hostile environment. It is a hostile environment.

When you go in to get a loan and you are qualified, and you cannot get the same loan that a person of a different hue can acquire who is equally as qualified as you, you are equally as qualified as that person, that is hostile to you in terms of your economic status. H.R. 2543 seeks to remedy that. H.R. 2543 makes it a crime to discriminate against a person in lending.

I must tell you, the Honorable Maxine Waters has more courage than we can measure. There is no way to measure the amount of courage this woman has to bring this kind of legislation to this floor. And I have to acknowledge that the other leadership in the House, it was pretty courageous of them, too, to let this kind of bill come to the floor for a vote. And I congratulate and thank every person that voted for it. Because it ought to be a crime to defraud a person out of a loan.

For edification purposes, if you defraud the bank, you can face a fine of up to $1 million, up to a $1 million fine. And you can be imprisoned. There is no such fine if the bank denies you a loan, defrauds you of your loan that you are entitled to.

That changed with the passage of H.R. 2543. This is historic. You are not going to read about it in the newspapers. But you are going to hear about it from me right here on this floor of the House.

I didn't come here to hide the good news. We want to let the world know about the good news. The challenge would be, of course, to get it through the Senate. I believe this President will sign it but getting it through the Senate will be a challenge.

But back to where we were. So we find ourselves acclimating to the hostile environment we have. We find ourselves accepting our circumstance. And there are others who would say that you are free, you can just make your way as others have made their way, pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

Well, let's see where we are with bootstraps. Bootstraps would first require that you have boots. Black folk don't have the boots. The boots are at the banks.

People in this country who have little acquire some things with their hard work and then they are in a position to borrow money. If we are not given a fair opportunity to borrow money, which would give us the boots, and then we can have straps added to the boots, you are not going to be able to pull yourself up by the bootstraps when you don't have boots. It just doesn't happen. And that is the circumstance we find ourselves in.

There are many people who will say that by doing what I am doing I am just making excuses. Well, tell that to the people at the Brookings Institution. Convince them. They compile this statistical information, the empirical evidence I have shared with you. This is not Al Green speaking in the sense of Al Green compiled the information that you have heard. No. This is the Brookings Institution. I am just the messenger. They compiled the message.

So we find ourselves in this hostile environment as it relates to the economy.

It is a hostile environment in many other ways, as well. It is a hostile environment just in terms of our living. Still discriminated against when it comes to housing. Still discriminated against. And it took the death of Dr. King to get the Fair Housing Act through Congress.

It is amazing how many of the seminal pieces of legislation that impact the lives of people of color are signed in ink, but they were written with the blood of people who made great sacrifices, Dr. King's life, John Lewis and the Edmund Pettus Bridge. But for John Lewis and the Edmund Pettus Bridge, additional civil rights laws would not have been signed into law. It took blood on the bridge to bring about the Civil Rights Act of 1965.

So my dear friends, we are in a hostile environment. People don't like to talk about the hostile environment. When people say Jews will not replace us--when they say Jews will not replace us--my friends, many of those people work in restaurants.

One can but only imagine what happens to the food of a Jewish person when you have a person working in the restaurant who says Jews will not replace us. Given that this theory--this fake theory, this myth--there are some other words that can be used that my mother taught me not to use, but these prevarications are associated with this myth.

Friends, the myth is that Jews are going to use Black people to replace White people--which is ridiculous. But that means that there are some people that are very hostile to Black people since they think Black people are going to take over--and minorities and immigrants.

Just imagine what it can be like to go into a restaurant, and you have persons who don't find favor with treating us fairly. We have to be careful where we eat--we do--if you understand the environment you are living in. Hostile environment.

Can you imagine some of these persons--Jews will not replace us-- persons who are up in Idaho dressed in this military regalia, can you imagine one of them being a physician? You have got to go into this office, you need help, maybe you are going into the emergency room. It is a hostile environment.

You can't appreciate it if you don't understand the consequences that can emanate from people who scream Jews will not replace us, people who burn crosses, people who say that they are a part of a superior race.

You don't think it is a hostile environment? Ask the ghosts of the people who went into the Tops Food Store. Ask the ghosts if it is a hostile environment. He went there to kill Black people. If you don't think it is a hostile environment, ask the spirits of the people who were in the Walmart store in Texas. It is a hostile environment.

It is hostile if you understand and appreciate what is going on around you. I don't say it is hostile to the extent that we can't overcome it. I don't say it is hostile to the extent that we should simply surrender and throw up our hands. That is why we have H.R. 2543, and there are other aspects of it requiring transparency. We need to know who is integrating their business.

Sometimes when people have to announce their circumstance, they change that condition. H.R. 2543 will provide a lot of transparency. This is needed when you are in a hostile environment.

I would say to you, my dear friends--as Brookings puts it--just how large and persistent are these racial wealth gaps? Brookings has made it very clear that at least $17,150 for a Black family in terms of wealth is about one-tenth of the $171,000 net worth of a White family.

My hope is that we will remember yesterday as a moment in time that will hopefully accelerate the time that we will need to bring about a closing of this wealth gap. I think that what happened yesterday is a great step in that direction. It is not the last step. It is really not the first, there are other things that have been done, but it is a step in that direction. We need to close the wealth gap.

Madam Speaker, I pledge to do all that I can to close it. I want to let you know that in doing all of these things and saying what I am saying to you, explaining it in terms that many people will find uncomfortable, I still say that I love my country.

I still say I love my country. I still say I salute the flag. I am not some person who hates America. I am the guy who wants America to become America for all Americans. I want equality of opportunity. I want America to live up to its promise.

As I celebrate Juneteenth, I assure you, I will do the things that are customarily done in terms of the food and the drink and just having a great time celebrating freedom. It does not mean that I am going to forget the need for more work to be done.

I have great respect for and appreciation for Mr. Hoyer. I can't tell you how much I appreciate and respect him. He has said things here on this floor that I appreciate with reference to discrimination. Others have said things, too, that I greatly appreciate, it is just that I have sort of built a relationship with him.

I appreciate his indicating that Slavery Remembrance Day is something that is on his agenda. I am going to celebrate Juneteenth, but that doesn't mean that I won't commemorate August and Slavery Remembrance Day, that is a day of commemoration.

Madam Speaker, I am going to enjoy Juneteenth, but remembering that there is still great work to be done. I remember as a child my grandfather reminding me that I would have to be willing to make sacrifices that others would not have to make if I wanted to succeed in life in this country. Sacrifices that others would not have to make. I assumed that we all make the same sacrifices, but my grandfather taught my differently--that is not the case.

While I celebrate, I still have some appreciation for the sacrifices that have been made and have to be made. I understand that we need the Maxine Waters of the world who work hard to make sure that while she has the gavel that the change that she can bring about will take place.

I appreciate the Sheila Jackson Lees of the world who worked hard to make Juneteenth a holiday. It is a holiday and it is a time to celebrate. I also think we need a day to commemorate because in Texas there is a desire to not allow slavery to be taught--the history of African Americans as it relates to slavery to be taught in the schools. You can't teach it if Texas has its way.

Madam Speaker, I celebrate and commemorate. I thank God for the opportunity to serve in this House. I thank those persons who voted for the bill that we brought to the floor, H.R. 2543. I appreciate you, each of you, and I will be sending you a written thank you, but I didn't want too much time to pass without saying it to the world. I appreciate it.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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