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HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Black History Month is an annual celebration which
3recognizes that over the last 150 years, beginning with the
4Emancipation Proclamation and continuing with the Civil Rights
5Movement, African Americans have made great strides and
6advancements toward equality; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The precursor to Black History Month was "Negro
8History Week" was started in 1926 by historian and University
9of Chicago alumnus Carter G. Woodson and the Association for
10the Study of Negro Life and History; the second week of
11February was chosen because it marked the birthdays of
12President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglas;
13primary emphasis was placed on encouraging the coordinated
14teaching of the history of African Americans in the nation's
15public schools; and
 
16    WHEREAS, In 1970, Black History Week was expanded into
17Black History Month, with the first celebration taking place at
18Kent State University; as part of the 1976 United States
19Bicentennial, Black History Month was officially recognized by
20President Gerald Ford and the U.S. government; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Even with the numerous positive advancements made
22by African Americans since the Emancipation Proclamation,

 

 

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1which are documented during Black History Month, many
2communities still suffer from unacceptable conditions such as
3unemployment, poverty, mortgage foreclosures, deficiencies in
4public health services, and crime; and
 
5    WHEREAS, These economic and societal challenges created or
6exacerbated conditions which include inequalities in access to
7justice in the civil court system, an overburdened and
8ineffective criminal justice system, overcrowding conditions
9in correctional facilities, increased homelessness, increases
10in teen pregnancy, inadequate educational opportunities, a
11lack of affordable housing, insufficient delivery of social
12services to the less fortunate, and deficiencies in the
13delivery of public health services; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Unemployment is a lingering problem for the
15economy as a whole, but a study revealed that the unemployment
16rate for blacks in Illinois was 17.5%, compared to 8.2% for
17whites and 9.8% for all workers; 75.5% of homicide victims in
18the State of Illinois are black, and in the first months of
192012, when there was a 38% increase in the homicide rate, 77.6%
20of homicide victims in the City of Chicago were black; the teen
21birth rate in the United States was 38.1 births for every 1,000
22teens, but in a comparable time period in Illinois the rate for
23black teens was 77.9 births for every 1,000, while the white
24teen birth rate was 20.6 per every 1,000 teens; the inmate

 

 

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1population in the Illinois Correctional system is
2approximately 58% black and the high proportion of young black
3males with criminal convictions is a well-recognized
4phenomenon; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Black leaders in Illinois are not alone in
6recognizing that these broad social problems often strike the
7hardest in the black community; it is painful for the black
8leaders to ponder the stories of human struggle, despair, and
9hurt that all too often over shadow the stories of success and
10hope; and
 
11    WHEREAS, State government resources are expended in
12ever-increasing amounts to address these social and economic
13problems and those expenditures are a significant drain on the
14State's road to financial stability; therefore, be it
 
15    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
16NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
17we celebrate Black History Month and recognize how far African
18Americans have come in the past 150 years; and be it further
 
19    RESOLVED, We acknowledge the continuing struggles of those
20within the African American communities of the State and the
21country and encourage Governor Quinn to address the ongoing
22issues affecting those communities; and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
2delivered to Governor Pat Quinn.