Lest We Forget
Our Congress is tirelessly committed to bettering the lives of all Americans. My few but cherished readers should be grateful for these dedicated lawmakers. I am of course referring to House Resolution 517 better known as, Original Slavery Remembrance Day Resolution of 2021.
Representative Al Green of Texas sponsored the resolution in the House and introduced it on July 1, 2021. It passed the House on July 27, 2021 and became a joint resolution sponsored by Elizabeth Warren in the Senate. In November of 2021 it was read twice in the Senate and was referred to the Judiciary Committee where, sadly, it died.
The aim of the resolution was to encourage “all to acknowledge the importance of slavery remembrance”. We needed this in 2021 because too many Americans had forgotten that slavery was part of the history of the United States. Here are some examples of what Americans need to know. Please pay attention dear reader.
“On August 20, 1619, the first 20 enslaved Africans were brought to what is now Fort Monroe…against their will”. They were not only “enslaved” but they were here “against their will”. That’s right. American slavery was particularly evil because the slaves did not want to be slaves nor be in the Americas.
Brace yourself for this one. “Sharks followed the slave ships to feed on bodies of slaves thrown overboard”. In all maritime history only the bodies of African slaves were thrown to the sharks. This is another example of racism and the unique cruelty that was the African Slave Trade to America.
Worse still, “infant and child mortality rates were twice as high among slave children as among Southern White children”. Don’t ask about Northern white children. The North is not guilty. This is a Southern sin.
Finally, John Brown was a saint. He even invaded the South to free the slaves. He “began his invasion at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, but was surrounded and captured by Federal troops led by Robert E. Lee, losing two more sons in the fighting”.
What a country. Our Congress ensures we know our history.
