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SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The City of Bloomington Human Relations
3Commission, in partnership with the McLean County Historical
4Society and the Bloomington/Normal Black History Project
5(BNBHP), will be hosting the 2021 Annual Juneteenth
6Celebration; and
 
7    WHEREAS, This virtual event, known as Justice Delayed,
8will encompass a week of education, motivation, and
9celebration covering the racial history of the United States;
10and
 
11    WHEREAS, Bloomington-Normal held its first Juneteenth
12celebration in 1993; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration
14commemorating the official ending of slavery in the United
15States when, on June 19, 1865, General Gordon Granger landed
16at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that
17the enslaved were freed; and
 
18    WHEREAS, The first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln,
19gave his famous Emancipation Proclamation executive order just
20two years prior in 1863, which declared southern slaves to be
21free; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, The inhumane practice of slavery in the United
2States was finally brought to an end following the Civil War;
3and
 
4    WHEREAS, The practice of slavery is now widely condemned
5and recognized as evil, and courageous leaders such as
6President Lincoln are responsible for paving the way towards a
7future where all Americans are treated as equal regardless of
8skin color; and
 
9    WHEREAS, The rights guaranteed to all United States
10citizens were unjustly denied to people based on the color of
11their skin; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Many African American citizens were denied basic
13rights even after slavery was abolished, due to government
14mandated racial segregation; and
 
15    WHEREAS, This continued racial discrimination following
16the abolition of slavery spurred the rise of prominent,
17courageous, and influential civil rights leaders such as Dr.
18Martin Luther King Jr.; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Despite this history of racial injustice, the
20United States has made progress towards the goal of racial

 

 

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1equality; and
 
2    WHEREAS, The prominence of African American individuals in
3American life, such as Barack Obama, Clarence Thomas, and
4Condoleezza Rice, is evidence of how far America has come
5regarding racial equality; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The ending of slavery and racial segregation
7serves as a reminder that America is capable of change for the
8better; and
 
9    WHEREAS, America's racial progress towards achieving Dr.
10King's dream, where people are judged by the content of their
11character and not by the color of their skin, is a call for
12celebration and reflection upon American history; therefore,
13be it
 
14    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL
15ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare the week of
16June 14, 2021 as "Juneteenth Remembrance Week" in the State of
17Illinois, to be celebrated with the appropriate events and
18activities; and be it further
 
19    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
20presented to the City of Bloomington Human Relations
21Commission, the McLean County Historical Society, and the

 

 

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1Bloomington/Normal Black History Project.