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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Most of us, as school children, are taught the | ||||||
3 | story that Francis Scott Key wrote the Star-Spangled Banner, | ||||||
4 | our National Anthem, while a prisoner aboard a British ship | ||||||
5 | during the War of 1812 as he watched American troops attempting | ||||||
6 | to hold off the invading British; and
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7 | WHEREAS, Today, the Star-Spangled Banner is a song that | ||||||
8 | instills pride in millions of Americans every time it is sung; | ||||||
9 | and
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10 | WHEREAS, The version of the Star-Spangled Banner that most | ||||||
11 | Americans are familiar with makes no mention of the black | ||||||
12 | soldiers that shed blood and lost their lives fighting to keep | ||||||
13 | the American flag flying over Baltimore, Maryland; and
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14 | WHEREAS, Most Americans are not aware that what would | ||||||
15 | become our National Anthem contained a verse that was removed | ||||||
16 | before the song became popular; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Francis Scott Key held derogatory views towards | ||||||
18 | African Americans and the missing verse was removed because it | ||||||
19 | was feared that it could be misconstrued as racist; and
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20 | WHEREAS, The missing verse: "And where is that band who so |
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1 | vauntingly swore,
that the havoc of war and the battle's | ||||||
2 | confusion
a home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their | ||||||
3 | blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge | ||||||
4 | could save the hireling and slave
from the terror of flight or | ||||||
5 | the gloom of the grave,
and the star-spangled banner in triumph | ||||||
6 | doth wave
o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave"; | ||||||
7 | and | ||||||
8 | WHEREAS, Francis Scott Key aggressively worked to | ||||||
9 | repatriate enslaved Africans back to the continent of
Africa, | ||||||
10 | because he believed, in agreement with the words of Thomas | ||||||
11 | Jefferson, that Africans could never
coexist with white | ||||||
12 | Americans because of the "deep rooted prejudices entertained by | ||||||
13 | the whites; ten
thousand recollections, by the blacks of the | ||||||
14 | injuries they have sustained; new provocations; the real
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15 | distinctions which nature has made; and many other | ||||||
16 | circumstances ... will produce convulsions which will
never end | ||||||
17 | but in the extermination of the one or the other race"; and | ||||||
18 | WHEREAS, The vacancies in the stories told about our | ||||||
19 | collective history must be filled in with every
honest and | ||||||
20 | humble effort, so that our citizens are able to face the | ||||||
21 | complex emotions and disturbing
facts that feed so much anger | ||||||
22 | and confusion and threats which are obstacles to our advancing | ||||||
23 | in the
cause of justice and lasting peace; and |
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1 | WHEREAS, Teachers and scholars are available throughout | ||||||
2 | our State to assist young and old alike to
build a base of | ||||||
3 | knowledge that can bring minds and hearts to a common | ||||||
4 | understanding of what still
remains as our Constitutional | ||||||
5 | imperative, to establish a more perfect union; therefore, be it
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6 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
7 | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
8 | encourage all citizens to familiarize themselves with the | ||||||
9 | original lyrics of the Star-Spangled Banner.
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