Full Text of HR1011 99th General Assembly
HR1011enr 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION 1011
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The import, trade, and labor of slaves in America | 3 | | is a sad chapter in the history of a nation founded upon the | 4 | | principles of freedom, equality, and justice; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The use of slave labor undoubtedly led to profits | 6 | | for those who used them for manual labor; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, In addition to labor benefits, the owners of | 8 | | slaves benefited from selling them to the highest bidder, often | 9 | | separating families permanently; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, The trading, sale, and transportation of slaves, | 11 | | was an industry in itself; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, During their enslavement, to increase their value | 13 | | and extend their working lives, slaves received consistent | 14 | | health care and treatment for illness and injuries; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, After Emancipation and well into the century | 16 | | afterwards, African Americans were often denied employment, or | 17 | | paid less than whites for the same work; denied housing or | 18 | | forced to pay more for housing than whites; denied the same | 19 | | educational opportunities as whites; denied their right to vote | 20 | | by the use of literacy tests and poll taxes; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, After Emancipation, with little education, | 2 | | employment, adequate housing, and health care, the life | 3 | | expectancy of African Americans dropped significantly; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Over the course of our nation's history, many | 5 | | groups that have been wronged by the government have received | 6 | | reparations for those wrongs, including Japanese Americans, | 7 | | Mexican Americans, Filipino Americans, and Native Americans; | 8 | | and | 9 | | WHEREAS, In 2008, the United States House of | 10 | | Representatives passed a non-binding resolution apologizing | 11 | | for slavery and acknowledging the "injustice, cruelty, | 12 | | brutality and inhumanity" of slavery; and in 2009 the United | 13 | | States Senate passed a similar resolution of apology; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, The United Nations Working Group of Experts on | 15 | | People of African Descent has recently released a report | 16 | | recommending that reparations be paid to the descendants of | 17 | | African American slaves, and also recommending the | 18 | | establishment of a national human rights commission, and to | 19 | | publicly acknowledge that the trans-Atlantic slave trade was a | 20 | | crime against humanity; therefore, be it
| 21 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
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| 1 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, That we | 2 | | request President Obama to commission a study to detail the | 3 | | economic impact of the slave trade and the use of slave labor; | 4 | | and how Emancipation, while freeing them of their literal | 5 | | bonds, and ending an immoral practice, did not guarantee | 6 | | equality in education, employment, housing, and access to | 7 | | quality affordable health care; and be it further
| 8 | | RESOLVED, That this study also include an analysis for how | 9 | | reparations for past harms have benefited the ethnic groups | 10 | | that have received them during the course of American history; | 11 | | and, if recommended in the study, a proposal for reparations to | 12 | | the descendants of slaves in America, and how those reparations | 13 | | can help overcome obstacles that still exist today in | 14 | | education, employment, housing, health care, and justice; and | 15 | | be it further | 16 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 17 | | presented to President Obama.
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