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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The import, trade, and labor of slaves in America
3is a sad chapter in the history of a nation founded upon the
4principles of freedom, equality, and justice; and
 
5    WHEREAS, The use of slave labor undoubtedly led to profits
6for those who used them for manual labor; and
 
7    WHEREAS, In addition to labor benefits, the owners of
8slaves benefited from selling them to the highest bidder, often
9separating families permanently; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The trading, sale, and transportation of slaves,
11was an industry in itself; and
 
12    WHEREAS, During their enslavement, to increase their value
13and extend their working lives, slaves received consistent
14health care and treatment for illness and injuries; and
 
15    WHEREAS, After Emancipation and well into the century
16afterwards, African Americans were often denied employment, or
17paid less than whites for the same work; denied housing or
18forced to pay more for housing than whites; denied the same
19educational opportunities as whites; denied their right to vote
20by the use of literacy tests and poll taxes; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, After Emancipation, with little education,
2employment, adequate housing, and health care, the life
3expectancy of African Americans dropped significantly; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Over the course of our nation's history, many
5groups that have been wronged by the government have received
6reparations for those wrongs, including Japanese Americans,
7Mexican Americans, Filipino Americans, and Native Americans;
8and
 
9    WHEREAS, In 2008, the United States House of
10Representatives passed a non-binding resolution apologizing
11for slavery and acknowledging the "injustice, cruelty,
12brutality and inhumanity" of slavery; and in 2009 the United
13States Senate passed a similar resolution of apology; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The United Nations Working Group of Experts on
15People of African Descent has recently released a report
16recommending that reparations be paid to the descendants of
17African American slaves, and also recommending the
18establishment of a national human rights commission, and to
19publicly acknowledge that the trans-Atlantic slave trade was a
20crime against humanity; therefore, be it
 
21    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE

 

 

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1NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, That we
2request President Obama to commission a study to detail the
3economic impact of the slave trade and the use of slave labor;
4and how Emancipation, while freeing them of their literal
5bonds, and ending an immoral practice, did not guarantee
6equality in education, employment, housing, and access to
7quality affordable health care; and be it further
 
8    RESOLVED, That this study also include an analysis for how
9reparations for past harms have benefited the ethnic groups
10that have received them during the course of American history;
11and a proposal for reparations to the descendants of slaves in
12America, and how those reparations can help overcome obstacles
13that still exist today in education, employment, housing,
14health care, and justice; and be it further
 
15    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
16presented to President Obama.