Full Text of HR0625 100th General Assembly
HR0625 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Most of us, as school children, are taught the | 3 | | story that Francis Scott Key wrote the Star-Spangled Banner, | 4 | | our National Anthem, while a prisoner aboard a British ship | 5 | | during the War of 1812 as he watched American troops attempting | 6 | | to hold off the invading British; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Today, the Star-Spangled Banner is a song that | 8 | | instills pride in millions of Americans every time it is sung; | 9 | | and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, The version of the Star-Spangled Banner that most | 11 | | Americans are familiar with makes no mention of the black | 12 | | soldiers that shed blood and lost their lives fighting to keep | 13 | | the American flag flying over Baltimore, Maryland; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Most Americans are not aware that what would | 15 | | become our National Anthem contained a verse that was removed | 16 | | before the song became popular; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Francis Scott Key held derogatory views towards | 18 | | African Americans and the missing verse was removed because it | 19 | | was feared that it could be misconstrued as racist; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, The missing verse: "And where is that band who so |
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| 1 | | vauntingly swore,
that the havoc of war and the battle's | 2 | | confusion
a home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their | 3 | | blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge | 4 | | could save the hireling and slave
from the terror of flight or | 5 | | the gloom of the grave,
and the star-spangled banner in triumph | 6 | | doth wave
o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave"; | 7 | | and | 8 | | WHEREAS, Francis Scott Key aggressively worked to | 9 | | repatriate enslaved Africans back to the continent of
Africa, | 10 | | because he believed, in agreement with the words of Thomas | 11 | | Jefferson, that Africans could never
coexist with white | 12 | | Americans because of the "deep rooted prejudices entertained by | 13 | | the whites; ten
thousand recollections, by the blacks of the | 14 | | injuries they have sustained; new provocations; the real
| 15 | | distinctions which nature has made; and many other | 16 | | circumstances ... will produce convulsions which will
never end | 17 | | but in the extermination of the one or the other race"; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, The vacancies in the stories told about our | 19 | | collective history must be filled in with every
honest and | 20 | | humble effort, so that our citizens are able to face the | 21 | | complex emotions and disturbing
facts that feed so much anger | 22 | | and confusion and threats which are obstacles to our advancing | 23 | | in the
cause of justice and lasting peace; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Teachers and scholars are available throughout | 2 | | our State to assist young and old alike to
build a base of | 3 | | knowledge that can bring minds and hearts to a common | 4 | | understanding of what still
remains as our Constitutional | 5 | | imperative, to establish a more perfect union; therefore, be it
| 6 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 7 | | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 8 | | encourage all citizens to familiarize themselves with the | 9 | | original lyrics of the Star-Spangled Banner.
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