Full Text of SJR0044 95th General Assembly
SJ0044 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS,
The State of Illinois, at the time of its | 3 |
| acceptance into the Union in 1818 and
for a longtime | 4 |
| thereafter, practiced
de facto slavery masqueraded as | 5 |
| "indentured servitude"; the census of 1840
enumerated slaves in | 6 |
| Illinois in violation of the Ordinance of 1787, which
outlawed | 7 |
| slavery in the Northwest Territories; and
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| WHEREAS, The State of Illinois passed the infamous and | 9 |
| unjust Black Laws
(1819), otherwise known as the Black Codes, | 10 |
| which were a denial of human rights
designed to cover up | 11 |
| slavery and the slave trade within the borders of the
State; | 12 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, The State of Illinois supported the Black Codes | 14 |
| for more than
forty-six years until they were finally repealed; | 15 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, In the State of Illinois the majority of Illinois | 17 |
| citizens favored
closing the State to African-American | 18 |
| residents and withholding the right of
citizenship from those | 19 |
| African-American residents already living in the State;
and
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| WHEREAS, The State of Illinois passed dehumanizing laws | 21 |
| stating that slaves
were not persons, but property, and as |
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LRB095 11803 KXB 34806 r |
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| property the ownership of enslaved
Africans was to be fully | 2 |
| protected by Illinois law; and
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| WHEREAS, For many years, Black people, free or otherwise, | 4 |
| had no
legal status as citizens in the State of Illinois; and
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| WHEREAS, The East St. Louis massacre on July 2, 1917 was | 6 |
| the scene of
violent attacks
on the Black populace; a bitter | 7 |
| and destructive riot ran on for nearly a week;
312 buildings | 8 |
| were destroyed; some reports claimed 39
African-Americans were | 9 |
| killed, while another source reported 200 to 300 deaths,
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| including women and children; and
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| WHEREAS, On August 14 and 15, 1908, a riot broke out in the | 12 |
| State Capital of
Springfield; Scott Burton was lynched during | 13 |
| the riot and Joe James was lynched
after the riot; there
were | 14 |
| lootings, buildings and property were destroyed, and Walter | 15 |
| Donegan
was
hung in a tree, his throat slit open, and his body | 16 |
| mutilated; and
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| WHEREAS, Chicago faced a riot in the week of July 27 | 18 |
| through August 2, 1919;
one of the country's most violent and | 19 |
| racially motivated attacks on Blacks
occurred; 38 people were | 20 |
| killed, 537 were injured, and 1,000 people found
themselves | 21 |
| homeless; and
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| WHEREAS, The Chicago Commission on Race Relations rendered | 2 |
| a full report
studying the Black Community (The Negro in | 3 |
| Chicago) and ignored studies of the
white offenders and their | 4 |
| communities; and
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| WHEREAS, The racial altercations throughout the State of | 6 |
| Illinois during the
turbulent decade of the 1960's resulted in | 7 |
| the Kerner Commission Report, or The
Report of the National | 8 |
| Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders; and
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| WHEREAS, There is a need for special investigations into | 10 |
| the unknown number
of African-Americans killed during race | 11 |
| riots in the State of Illinois;
therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | 13 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES | 14 |
| CONCURRING HEREIN, that a special commission, to be known as | 15 |
| the Illinois Riot and Reparations Commission, be formed to | 16 |
| study historical events in the State of Illinois, particularly | 17 |
| those events that resulted in the loss of African-American | 18 |
| lives and property; and that if the study presented by the | 19 |
| Commission warrants a second commission be formed to look into | 20 |
| the payment of reparations to the survivors and their | 21 |
| descendants; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That the Commission be made up of four members of |
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| the Illinois
Senate, two to be chosen by the President of the | 2 |
| Senate, and two to be chosen
by the Senate Minority Leader; | 3 |
| four members of the Illinois House of
Representatives, two to | 4 |
| be chosen by the Speaker of the House, and two to be
chosen by | 5 |
| the House Minority Leader; the Executive Director of the | 6 |
| Illinois
Human Rights Commission, or his or her designee, and | 7 |
| the Director of the
Illinois State Historical Society, or his | 8 |
| or her designee; all of whom shall
serve
without compensation | 9 |
| but shall be reimbursed for their reasonable and necessary
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| expenses; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That the Commission shall meet at the call of the | 12 |
| President of the
Senate and shall make a report of its findings | 13 |
| to the General Assembly no
later than January
7,
2009, and upon | 14 |
| making its report shall be dissolved; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 16 |
| delivered to the
Executive Director of the
Illinois Human | 17 |
| Rights Commission and the Director of the Illinois State
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| Historical
Society.
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