88R9965 TBO-D     By: Reynolds H.C.R. No. 53       CONCURRENT RESOLUTION          WHEREAS, During a span of nearly 250 years, beginning in 1619   and continuing until 1865, millions of Africans and their   descendants were enslaved and forced into uncompensated labor in   the United States and the 13 American colonies that preceded the   founding of this nation; and          WHEREAS, The enslavement of Africans and their descendants   was constitutionally sanctioned by the final draft of the   Constitution of the United States of America in 1789; it was not   until the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865 that slavery   was legally abolished, yet the suffering of the former slaves   continued after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and   ratification of the 13th Amendment; and          WHEREAS, The abolition of slavery alone was not enough to set   the freed slaves on the path to self-sufficiency, given the fact   that for generations they had been systematically denied access to   education, property, legal rights, or any other foundation for   success, and even the few attempts to provide some of these   fundamental elements often were quickly overturned; and          WHEREAS, For example, the original pledge of 40 acres of land   to all freed slaves under the Freedman's Bureau Act of 1865 was   rendered obsolete in 1866 by President Andrew Johnson when he   returned all of the land to the pre-Civil War owners, leaving the   freed slaves with a broken promise and bankrupting the bureau's   funding; and          WHEREAS, The United States government has actively supported   initiatives to indemnify Americans who were wronged in the past; in   1946, the United States Congress established a tribunal to resolve   grievances of Native American tribes and eventually awarded them   reparations, and in 1988, the United States awarded Japanese   Americans reparations in an effort to compensate for their   internment in camps during World War II; and          WHEREAS, The movement to officially recognize the impact of   slavery on the American citizenry has been sustained through   several generations and continues to have nationwide support;   however, since the abolition of slavery, the United States has yet   to take responsibility for its role in the enslavement of Africans   and their descendants, and sufficient inquiry has not been made to   examine the institution of slavery and its lingering negative   effects on African American society in the United States; now,   therefore, be it          RESOLVED, That the 88th Legislature of the State of Texas   hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to pass H.R. 40   to establish the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation   Proposals for African Americans; and, be it further          RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official   copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to   the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the   Senate of the United States Congress, and to all members of the   Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this resolution   be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to   the Congress of the United States of America.