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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Chicago, the third largest city in the United
3States, is a thriving center of business, industry, and
4culture, with approximately 83,733 registered black owned
5businesses and approximately 40 black communities; it was also
6the location of the Red Summer Riot of 1919 and approximately
725 other race riots; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Black Wall Street - Illinois is an organization
9formed to partner with black business districts and communities
10in Illinois and abroad, setting a standard for building
11sustainable black businesses and communities as a means to stop
12violence, retaining current businesses while incubating new
13businesses, and growing through the rich historical blueprint
14in the tradition of growth and prosperity with the original
15"Black Wall Street District" of Tulsa, Oklahoma's Greenwood
16District; being ostracized from the mainstream, the business
17and economic population's leaders of the "Black Wall Street"
18Tulsa area reportedly used "Black Dollars" instead of United
19States currency during the early 1900s, allowing them the
20ability to track its recirculation within the district; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Race riots not only destroyed black communities,
22but destroyed the people in those communities as well; the
23wealth that was established for their children and the examples

 

 

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1of pride and self-respect were destroyed as well, causing black
2business districts to become nonexistent and leaving the black
3communities in economic despair; although there were some
4reparations, those came years later and were not given to over
585% of the communities destroyed; and
 
6    WHEREAS, In June 2015, South Suburban Black Wall Street and
7Black Wall Street - Illinois, with the help of Illinois State
8Representative LaShawn Ford, formed and hosted their First
9Annual Convention and 3-day tour from Chicago to the "Black
10Wall Street District" in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and
 
11    WHEREAS, During the oil boom of the 1910s, the area of
12northeast Oklahoma around Tulsa flourished, including the
13Greenwood neighborhood, which came to be known as the "Black
14Wall Street District"; many black men and women moved to the
15area, structuring a system for wealth that produced some of the
16first known black millionaires in the United States; the area
17was home to several lawyers, realtors, doctors, and prominent
18black businessmen, many of them multimillionaires; Greenwood
19boasted a variety of thriving businesses, such as grocery
20stores, clothing stores, barbershops, banks, hotels, cafes,
21movie theaters, 2 newspapers, and many contemporary homes;
22Greenwood residents enjoyed many luxuries that their white
23neighbors did not, including indoor plumbing and a remarkable
24school system; each dollar circulated 36 to 100 times,

 

 

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1sometimes taking a year for currency to leave the community;
2Greenwood, Oklahoma implemented a blueprint for success
3imitated by other black business communities across the world;
4and
 
5    WHEREAS, The 25 Black Wall Street - Illinois attendees,
6which consisted of business owners and workforce and community
7leaders representing a plethora of different products and
8services, participated in presentations and meetings with
9businesses in the Black Wall Street Greenwood District on many
10topics, including partnerships with Chicago communities,
11international trade, and business franchising; and
 
12    WHEREAS, The Tulsa, Oklahoma riot took place from May 31 to
13June 1, 1921; altercations between whites and blacks at the
14jail led to a race war; a mob numbering more than 10,000
15attacked the black district; machine-guns were brought into
16use, 8 airplanes were employed to spy on the movements of the
17blacks and, according to some, were used in bombing what was
18considered the "colored" section of the town; by the time order
19was restored, the entire business district of "Black Wall
20Street" and many homes totaling over $1.5 million in value were
21said to have been destroyed by fire; in the wake of the
22violence, 35 city blocks lay in charred ruins, over 800 people
23were treated for injuries, 15,000 were left homeless, and an
24estimated 1,000-plus deaths occurred; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Within 5 years of the massacre, surviving
2residents who chose to remain in Tulsa rebuilt portions of the
3district; they accomplished their goal despite the opposition
4of many Tulsa political and business leaders and punitive
5rezoning laws enacted to prevent reconstruction; it resumed
6being a vital black community until segregation was overturned
7by the federal government during the 1950s and 1960s;
8desegregation encouraged blacks to integrate other surrounding
9communities and Greenwood lost much of its original vitality;
10since then, city leaders have attempted to strip the landmark
11of its history; and
 
12    WHEREAS, South Suburban Black Wall Street and Black Wall
13Street - Illinois's mission is to promote wealth and
14sustainability through changing, reinforcement, and
15implementation of policies and procurements that effect access
16to information and education and economic resources to build
17sustainable black businesses and communities; Black Wall
18Street - Illinois has partnered with members of the Black Wall
19Street Greenwood District, community leaders, and State
20Representatives with a commitment to help with the planning and
21development of the remaining portions of Greenwood destroyed in
22the race riot; and
 
23    WHEREAS, Through its vision and research, Black Wall Street -

 

 

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1 Illinois has partnered all existing Black Wall Street
2organizations to mobilize its structure in Chicago, identified
3black communities that were targeted in race riot areas and
4examined their current economic condition, and formulated a
5strategic plan to conduct effective outreach to motivate
6change; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Jim Crow segregation, legitimized by the Plessy v.
8Ferguson (1896) Supreme Court ruling, forced black people to
9use separate and usually inferior facilities; the southern
10justice system systematically denied them equal protection
11under the law and condoned the practice of vigilante mob
12violence; as an aspiring migrant from Alabama wrote in a letter
13to the Chicago Defender, "I am in the darkness of the south and
14I am trying my best to get out"; blacks were ultimately forced
15to create their own neighborhoods, business districts, and
16economic base to survive across the country; and
 
17    WHEREAS, In 1898 in Wilmington, North Carolina, political
18wars between prominent blacks and whites resulted in
19accusations of sexual misconduct by black men against white
20women; a prominent black newspaper editor, Alex Manly,
21responded with an editorial suggesting that it was possible
22that relations between white women and black men were
23consensual, a taboo subject at the time; about 500 white men
24attacked and burned Manly's office, along with other black

 

 

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1businesses; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Racial tension had been building in Atlanta,
3Georgia in 1906 and race-baiting in the state's gubernatorial
4election brought it to a boil; blacks in Georgia had begun to
5prosper economically and socially and the Democratic
6candidates for governor, Hoke Smith and Clark Howell, played on
7fears of a rising black middle class; about 10,000 white men
8and boys took to the streets, beating black men and burning
9businesses and homes; and
 
10    WHEREAS, In August of 1908, a three-day riot took place in
11Springfield, Illinois; white mobs headed for the small
12eleven-by-nine block area considered the "Negro" section and
13attacked homes and businesses in what is now downtown
14Springfield; this riot, in the hometown of Abraham Lincoln,
15shocked Jane Addams, who met the following year in New York
16City with prominent black civil rights activist W.E.B. Dubois
17to form the NAACP to promote the equality of rights and the
18eradication of racial prejudice; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Between 1914 and 1920, roughly 500,000 black
20southerners packed their bags and headed to the north,
21fundamentally transforming the social, cultural, and political
22landscape of cities such as Chicago, New York, Cleveland,
23Pittsburgh, and Detroit; the Great Migration would reshape

 

 

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1black America and the nation as a whole; black southerners
2faced a host of social, economic, and political challenges that
3prompted their migration to the north; and
 
4    WHEREAS, The City of East St. Louis was the location of one
5of the bloodiest race riot in the 20th century; racial tensions
6began to increase in February of 1917, when 470 black workers
7were hired to replace white workers who had gone on strike
8against the Aluminum Ore Company; the May 28th disturbances
9were only a prelude to the violence that erupted on July 2,
101917; no precautions were taken to ensure white job security or
11to grant union recognition, which further increased the already
12high level of hostilities; and
 
13    WHEREAS, In 1919, race riots erupted in 26 U.S. cities
14during the course of the year, including Washington, DC;
15Knoxville, Tennessee; Longview, Texas; Phillips County,
16Arkansas; Omaha, Nebraska; and Chicago; many of the riots
17occurred during the summer months, in what is known as the "Red
18Summer"; racial tension was particularly bad in northern
19cities, as white soldiers returning from World War I found that
20their jobs had been taken by blacks who had migrated north; in
21addition, black soldiers returning from war became embittered
22by the lack of civil rights extended to them, particularly
23after they risked their lives fighting for their country; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Postwar Washington, D.C., which was roughly 75%
2white, was a racial tinderbox; housing was in short supply and
3jobs were so scarce that ex-doughboys in uniform panhandled
4along Pennsylvania Avenue; however, Washington's black
5community was the largest and most prosperous in the country,
6with a small but impressive upper class of teachers, ministers,
7lawyers, and businessmen concentrated in the LeDriot Park
8neighborhood near Howard University; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Drawn by Chicago's meatpacking houses, railway
10companies, and steel mills, the African-American population in
11Chicago skyrocketed from 44,000 in 1910 to 235,000 in 1930; a
12race riot ensued on July 27, 1919, lasting until August 3,
131919; after the riot, varying estimates of the death toll
14circulated, with the Chicago Police Chief estimating that 100
15blacks had been killed; renowned journalist Ida B. Wells
16reported in the Chicago Defender that 40 to 150 black people
17were killed in the rioting, while the NAACP estimated deaths at
18100 to 200; 6,000 African-Americans were left homeless after
19their neighborhoods were burned; and
 
20    WHEREAS, In August of 1919, a race riot in Knoxville,
21Tennessee broke out after a white mob mobilized in response to
22a black man accused of murdering a white woman; the
235,000-strong mob stormed the county jail searching for the
24prisoner and freed 16 white prisoners, including suspected

 

 

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1murderers; after looting the jail and sheriff's house, the mob
2moved on and attacked the African-American business district;
3many of the city's black residents, aware of the race riots
4that had occurred across the country that summer, had armed
5themselves and barricaded the intersection of Vine and Central
6to defend their businesses; two platoons of the Tennessee
7National Guard's 4th Infantry led by Adjutant General Edward
8Sweeney arrived, but were unable to halt the chaos; the mob
9broke into stores and stole firearms and other weapons on their
10way to the black business district; upon their arrival, the
11streets erupted in gunfire as black snipers exchanged fire with
12both rioters and soldiers; the Tennessee National Guard at one
13point fired 2 machine guns indiscriminately into the
14neighborhood, eventually dispersing the rioters; shooting
15continued sporadically for several hours; outgunned, the black
16defenders gradually fled, allowing the guardsmen to gain
17control of the area; newspapers placed the death toll at just 2
18persons, though eyewitness accounts suggest the dead were so
19many that the bodies were dumped into the Tennessee River,
20while others were buried in mass graves outside the city; and
 
21    WHEREAS, A riot in Detroit, Michigan in 1943 flared from
22the increased racial friction over the sharp rise in the black
23population, which led to competition with whites on the job and
24housing markets; on June 20, 1943, rioting broke out on Belle
25Isle, a recreational area used by both races but predominately

 

 

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1by blacks; fist fights escalated into a major conflict; the
2first wave of looting and bloodshed began in the "Paradise
3Valley" and later spread to other sections of the city; white
4mobs attacked blacks in the downtown area and traveled into
5black neighborhoods by car; by the time federal troops arrived
6to halt the riot, black communities and homes were damaged in
7amounts exceeding $2 million; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Many blacks were economically distressed because
9of the loss of homes, businesses, and jobs from previous race
10riots; they migrated to areas like Chicago, New York,
11California, D.C., New Jersey, and Maryland, where they found
12refuge and safety with other family members as well as entry
13level employment, government subsidies, and low-income
14housing; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Most of the black communities that were attacked
16from 1914 to 1943 were completely abandoned or regentrified, or
17have continued to struggle because of the social, racial, and
18economic barriers that accompany generational poverty; as
19descendants of black slaves struggled to recreate wealth and
20make demands for equal education and social and workforce
21opportunities, over 700 riots took place between 1964 and 1971,
22adding to the debilitating forces for blacks which further
23pushed them behind the economic development curve; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Race riots in the United States and their
2consequences for black communities have served as a constant
3reminder of the open platforms for constant displacement
4through the destruction of small businesses and housing which
5has created the inability for blacks to rise above; lacking
6business or homeowners insurance, blacks have left the land to
7be bought by developers or surrendered for delinquent taxes;
8solving the attendant poverty problems and re-building the
9economic capacity that could re-circulate community dollars
10would create sustainability; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Research by social scientists William Collins and
12Robert Margo, published in the National Bureau of Economic
13Research Working Paper 10243, shows that black communities have
14never recovered from the economic impact created by race riots;
15the studies show economic disadvantages that were created to
16keep black communities under the poverty level and classified
17as the working poor; finally, the studies show the impact of
18segregation on the rising prices of impoverished urban
19developments and the socioeconomic factors that created the
20downward spiral in black communities and real estate values;
21and
 
22    WHEREAS, Many urban renewal initiatives and public housing
23transformation projects, among other pilot programs, were
24created in the City of Chicago and other cities; other small

 

 

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1business and community initiatives were also implemented;
2however, other ethnic races entering black communities were
3able to be funded and financed, while black business owners
4were driven to close and work part-time minimum wage jobs to
5survive; black citizens migrated to other communities in
6surrounding areas; the initiatives were promoted as a way to
7create access, growth, and equal opportunities for
8communities, but promoted renting instead of property
9ownership, thus creating an economic gap which allowed other
10nationalities to fill the demands for small businesses and
11property ownership in black communities; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Black Wall Street - Illinois will continue to have
13monthly conference calls and meetings to discuss the
14implementation and transparency of policies with leadership
15that sustains and incubates black businesses and tax paying
16citizens; boards and committees are being formed to help
17articulate the specific needs to amend existing policies,
18police the procurement process, and build statistical data that
19speaks to the success of these policies and what is needed to
20create economic progress; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Black Wall Street - Illinois will conduct a
22statewide tour of black business communities starting in the
23Chicagoland area in July of 2016 to identify the strengths and
24areas for improvement, generate access to capital, and the

 

 

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1recirculation of public and private dollars within those
2communities; the promotion of partnerships for local community
3resources is a blueprint for building local profits that create
4access to local contracts and workforce development
5opportunities; implementing this plan will lower crime and
6promote first time homeowners and businesses; therefore, be it
 
7    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
8NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
9recognize Black Wall Street - Illinois as a premier
10organization in the State of Illinois and thank them for their
11work in Illinois communities; and be it further
 
12    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
13presented to the members of Black Wall Street - Illinois as
14symbol of our esteem and respect.