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1 | SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS,
The State of Illinois, at the time of its | ||||||
3 | acceptance into the Union in 1818 and
for a longtime | ||||||
4 | thereafter, practiced
de facto slavery masqueraded as | ||||||
5 | "indentured servitude"; the census of 1840
enumerated slaves in | ||||||
6 | Illinois in violation of the Ordinance of 1787, which
outlawed | ||||||
7 | slavery in the Northwest Territories; and
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8 | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois passed the infamous and | ||||||
9 | unjust Black Laws
(1819), otherwise known as the Black Codes, | ||||||
10 | which were a denial of human rights
designed to cover up | ||||||
11 | slavery and the slave trade within the borders of the
State; | ||||||
12 | and
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13 | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois supported the Black Codes | ||||||
14 | for more than
forty-six years until they were finally repealed; | ||||||
15 | and
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16 | WHEREAS, In the State of Illinois the majority of Illinois | ||||||
17 | citizens favored
closing the State to African-American | ||||||
18 | residents and withholding the right of
citizenship from those | ||||||
19 | African-American residents already living in the State;
and
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20 | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois passed dehumanizing laws | ||||||
21 | stating that slaves
were not persons, but property, and as |
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1 | property the ownership of enslaved
Africans was to be fully | ||||||
2 | protected by Illinois law; and
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3 | WHEREAS, For many years, Black people, free or otherwise, | ||||||
4 | had no
legal status as citizens in the State of Illinois; and
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5 | WHEREAS, The East St. Louis massacre on July 2, 1917 was | ||||||
6 | the scene of
violent attacks
on the Black populace; a bitter | ||||||
7 | and destructive riot ran on for nearly a week;
312 buildings | ||||||
8 | were destroyed; some reports claimed 39
African-Americans were | ||||||
9 | killed, while another source reported 200 to 300 deaths,
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10 | including women and children; and
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11 | WHEREAS, On August 14 and 15, 1908, a riot broke out in the | ||||||
12 | State Capital of
Springfield; Scott Burton was lynched during | ||||||
13 | the riot and Joe James was lynched
after the riot; there
were | ||||||
14 | lootings, buildings and property were destroyed, and Walter | ||||||
15 | Donegan
was
hung in a tree, his throat slit open, and his body | ||||||
16 | mutilated; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Chicago faced a riot in the week of July 27 | ||||||
18 | through August 2, 1919;
one of the country's most violent and | ||||||
19 | racially motivated attacks on Blacks
occurred; 38 people were | ||||||
20 | killed, 537 were injured, and 1,000 people found
themselves | ||||||
21 | homeless; and
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1 | WHEREAS, The Chicago Commission on Race Relations rendered | ||||||
2 | a full report
studying the Black Community (The Negro in | ||||||
3 | Chicago) and ignored studies of the
white offenders and their | ||||||
4 | communities; and
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5 | WHEREAS, The racial altercations throughout the State of | ||||||
6 | Illinois during the
turbulent decade of the 1960's resulted in | ||||||
7 | the Kerner Commission Report, or The
Report of the National | ||||||
8 | Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders; and
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9 | WHEREAS, There is a need for special investigations into | ||||||
10 | the unknown number
of African-Americans killed during race | ||||||
11 | riots in the State of Illinois;
therefore, be it
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12 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | ||||||
13 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES | ||||||
14 | CONCURRING HEREIN, that a special commission, to be known as | ||||||
15 | the Illinois Riot and Reparations Commission, be formed to | ||||||
16 | study historical events in the State of Illinois, particularly | ||||||
17 | those events that resulted in the loss of African-American | ||||||
18 | lives and property; and that if the study presented by the | ||||||
19 | Commission warrants a second commission be formed to look into | ||||||
20 | the payment of reparations to the survivors and their | ||||||
21 | descendants; and be it further
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22 | RESOLVED, That the Commission be made up of four members of |
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1 | the Illinois
Senate, two to be chosen by the President of the | ||||||
2 | Senate, and two to be chosen
by the Senate Minority Leader; | ||||||
3 | four members of the Illinois House of
Representatives, two to | ||||||
4 | be chosen by the Speaker of the House, and two to be
chosen by | ||||||
5 | the House Minority Leader; the Executive Director of the | ||||||
6 | Illinois
Human Rights Commission, or his or her designee, and | ||||||
7 | the Director of the
Illinois State Historical Society, or his | ||||||
8 | or her designee; all of whom shall
serve
without compensation | ||||||
9 | but shall be reimbursed for their reasonable and necessary
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10 | expenses; and be it further
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11 | RESOLVED, That the Commission shall meet at the call of the | ||||||
12 | President of the
Senate and shall make a report of its findings | ||||||
13 | to the General Assembly no
later than January
7,
2009, and upon | ||||||
14 | making its report shall be dissolved; and be it further
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15 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
16 | delivered to the
Executive Director of the
Illinois Human | ||||||
17 | Rights Commission and the Director of the Illinois State
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18 | Historical
Society.
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