HR0866 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0866 LRB101 21671 LAW 72613 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, 300 years ago people of African descent were forcibly brought to Illinois as slaves; and

WHEREAS, The French brought the first slaves of African descent to Illinois Country in or around 1720; at that point, slave labor became the economic engine responsible for Illinois developing one of the largest economies in the world; and

WHEREAS, Slaves of African descent in Illinois Country worked in the lead mines and the American Bottom, famous for its fertile soil, in the modern day Metro East area; they also provided free labor for the highly profitable saltworks industries in the Salines; and

WHEREAS, Slaves of African descent were required to till the land, plant crops, forge and mine for lead, make lucrative salt, construct infrastructure, and build shelter in the following Illinois counties: Alexander, Jackson, Randolph, Gallatin, Franklin, Pope, Jefferson, Johnson, Wayne, Hamilton, White, Fayette, Union, Marion, Monroe, St. Clair, Madison, Bond, Washington, Montgomery, Green, Pike, Sangamon, Morgan, Fulton, Edgar, Clark, Crawford, Lawrence, and Edwards; many of these counties have been further subdivided in mid-2020; for example, modern day Pulaski, Massac, Saline, Hardin, Perry, Effingham, and Williamson counties were all pro-slavery counties; and

WHEREAS, The French had a specific law called Code Noir, designed to oversee the slaves of African descent in the Metro East area; Code Noir was first implemented in Haiti in 1685 to regulate the slave trade of people of African descent; and

WHEREAS, In 1763, after France's loss to the British in the French and Indian War, Illinois Country was ceded to the British via the Treaty of Paris; at that point, Britain had established itself as the dominant colonial power in North America; and

WHEREAS, Like the French, the British had long-standing laws for regulating slaves of African descent in the Metro East; beginning with the Barbados Slave Code of 1661, the British continued to revise their Slave Codes in various jurisdictions and ultimately shaped the body of law supporting Slave Codes and Black Laws in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, In 1789, following Britain's loss in the American Revolutionary War, Illinois Country became part of the new Northwest Territory; even though slavery was prohibited in the Northwest Territory by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, most territorial governors ignored the slavery ban and continued profiting from African descent slave labor; and

WHEREAS, In 1800, Illinois Country was absorbed into the Indiana Territory as America began to expand west by war or purchase; notably, the Indiana Territory had its own Slave Codes on the books entitled "An Act Concerning the Introduction of Negroes and Mulattoes into this Territory"; these Slave Codes allowed people of African descent to be brought into the territory and indentured; and

WHEREAS, In Gallatin County, African descent slave labor was the catalyst for Illinois Country reaching a very large agreement with the federal government regarding the abundance of salt springs in the region of the Wabash and Saline rivers; the two principal springs were known as the Half Moon Lick and Nigger Springs; there were salines in Vermilion County, the Big Muddy Saline and a saline at St. Genevieve, Missouri, but the Gallatin County saline produced more than all the others combined; and

WHEREAS, An Act of Congress dated March 26, 1804 provided among other things that "all salt springs, licks, wells with the necessary land adjacent thereto were reserved from sale as the property of the United States."; the territorial governor of Illinois Country was authorized to lease these salt wells and springs to the best interests of the general government; on April 30, 1804, Governor Harrison appointed Isaac White of Vincennes to be a government agent and reside at the works and collect the revenue due America; he assumed his duties and was assisted by John Marshall, who probably resided at Shawneetown; and

WHEREAS, In 1809, propelled by its slave labor, Illinois became its own territory after being severed from Indiana Territory; people of African descent in the new Illinois Territory continued to be subjected to the body of law contained in the Indiana Slave Codes; and

WHEREAS, Not even three decades after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which formalized Britain's recognition of the United States of America, the two countries were again in conflict in the War of 1812; resentment for Britain's interference with American international trade, combined with American expansionist visions, led Congress to declare war on Great Britain on June 18, 1812; and

WHEREAS, At this point, Illinois had to prove to the pro-expansion supporters that it was capable of producing benefits and revenue to help the U.S. both finance wars and acquire more land; African descent slave labor from the saltworks was key to Illinois' success in this regard; and

WHEREAS, On April 8, 1818, President James Monroe signed into law "An Act to Enable the People of Illinois Territory to form a constitution and state government and for the admission of such state into the Union on an equal footing with the original states."; Illinois was now a state on the path to a burgeoning economy largely driven by African descent slave labor; and

WHEREAS, In 1818, Illinois became a state divided between English-speaking and French-speaking citizens; the first Governor of the State of Illinois, Shadrach Bond, held slaves of African descent; he further supported the introduction of a pro-slave constitution; in a three-way race, French-speaking Pierre Menard won the race for lieutenant governor; Menard also held slaves of African descent; and

WHEREAS, When the 1818 Illinois Constitution was adopted, it revised several aspects of the status of slaves of African descent to conform with the federal guidelines for statehood; for example, it is clear that Illinois simply abolished slavery to comply with the federal balance of slave states versus non-slave states in the new America; and

WHEREAS, The 1818 Illinois Constitution additionally limited the right to vote to free white men, excluding all others; Illinois also constitutionally excluded people of African descent from serving in the militia; in other words, Illinois would not be policed by anyone of African descent and would remain a slave state; and

WHEREAS, The Constitution further kept an exemption allowing slavery at the Illinois salines and other salt springs near Shawneetown; according to historians, African descent slave-operated saltworks contributed one-third of the revenue for the new Illinois; and

WHEREAS, The initial legislatures followed the examples of the French and British Slave Codes and their own beliefs when they created Black Codes, effectively establishing two classes of citizenship in Illinois; the new legislatures, sitting in Vandalia, focused on restricting the movement of people of African descent and made significant financial investments into the state's roads, bridges, and yet another economic engine, prisons; and

WHEREAS, The new legislatures passed laws requiring people of African descent to produce on demand a Certificate of Freedom, verifying that they were a free person of color; people of African descent were additionally required to post a bond guaranteeing their good behavior under the new Black Codes; and

WHEREAS, Notably, the good behavior bond requirements ranged as high as $1,000, which was virtually unobtainable for people of African descent at that time; consequently, most people of African descent had to rely on a white person to serve as their surety when posting their good behavior bond; this was equally unobtainable for a person of African descent; and

WHEREAS, The Black Codes received their first test in the elections of 1822; the governor's race had four candidates, two judges, a business man, and the eventual winner, a true anti-slavery candidate; and

WHEREAS, The pro-slavery faction carried both houses of the legislature in the 1822 elections; yet, the pro-slavery faction split the vote in the governor's race allowing Edward Coles, a former federal envoy from Virginia, to win by a small margin; and

WHEREAS, Governor Coles, who had earlier emancipated his own slaves of African descent and purchased land for them, pursued an ambitious anti-slavery plan; he sought to free the remaining slaves in Illinois (those who had been in the land before the ordinance of 1789), loosen the harsh Black Codes, and stop the kidnapping and enslavement of free people of African descent; and

WHEREAS, The pro-slavery legislature was not interested in such a proposal; instead, it recommended that a referendum question be put on the ballot asking voters to decide whether Illinois should call a constitutional convention and amend its constitution to become a slave state; and

WHEREAS, Such a measure required a two-thirds majority in the legislature; while the state Senate garnered the votes for the proposal, it seemed destined to fall one vote short in the House of Representatives; however, the pro-slavery forces in the legislature unseated a man whose election had been disputed, and they replaced him with one who supported their slave state objective; the convention measure passed; and

WHEREAS, Citizens celebrated in the streets, holding processions, parades, and public dinners; at one, this toast was said to be offered, "The State of Illinois: the ground is good, prairie in abundance; give us plenty of negroes, a little industry, and she will distribute her treasures."; and

WHEREAS, The next election was August 2, 1824; the political campaign that ensued was impassioned, fractious, and intense; the subject was addressed tirelessly in the pulpits and the newspapers; the turnout on August 2nd was enormous compared with the presidential election that fall, where 4,532 votes were cast in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, On the slavery question in August of 1824, 11,612 went to the polls; when the votes were counted, the pro-slavery faction lost, 6,640 to 4,972; and

WHEREAS, The following counties voted in favor of Illinois becoming a slave state in 1824: Alexander, Jackson, Randolph (the home county of the first lieutenant governor and slaveowner Pierre Menard), Gallatin (saltworks), Franklin, Pope, Jefferson, Wayne, Hamilton, White, and Fayette; and

WHEREAS, In August of 1824, Johnson County voted equally on the question of whether Illinois should become a slave state; and

WHEREAS, The following counties voted in opposition to Illinois becoming a slave state in 1824: Union, Marion, Monroe, St. Clair, Madison, Bond, Washington, Montgomery, Green, Pike, Sangamon, Morgan, Fulton, Edgar, Clark, Crawford, Lawrence, and Edwards; and

WHEREAS, In 1827, Illinois intensified production in its African descent slave saltworks to obtain federal funding for infrastructure and capital improvements; after intense negotiations, Illinois ultimately passed a capital bill with federal funds tied to revenue from the saltworks; and

WHEREAS, The captured federal funds for capital improvements were distributed using a regional approach; the eastern half of the state invested its portion of capital funds in infrastructure, roads, and bridges, all to be supported by African descent labor; and

WHEREAS, The western portion of the state invested in the privatization of a new business, prisons; in 1831, the Illinois State Penitentiary was built in Alton, with large cost overruns because of soil integrity issues; much later, a prison now known as Menard Correctional Center followed in Randolph County; and

WHEREAS, During this time, the industrial revolution in Great Britain was intensifying, leading to more opportunities for Illinois businesses; Europe's textile factories needed more cotton that was produced by slave labor, and the world demand was increasing for salt, lead, and coal; and

WHEREAS, The 1840 Illinois Constitution specifically banned slavery in section 16 of its Declaration of Rights, specifying "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the State, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted."; however, it included a requirement that the General Assembly pass laws to prohibit the emigration of free African Americans into the state and to bar slaveholders from bringing slaves into the state for the purpose of freeing them; and

WHEREAS, There was, of course, opposition; the "Colored People of Chicago", for example, met to draft resolutions opposing the new constitution and the "unjust and partial laws" in the state, but the General Assembly failed to adopt them; and

WHEREAS, The 1848 Illinois Constitution continued to limit the right to vote to only white males and excluded people of African descent from serving in the militia; and

WHEREAS, Subsequent legislation led to one of the most restrictive Black Code systems in the nation until the American Civil War; and

WHEREAS, In 1848, Belleville in the Metro East became home to the first underground coal mining operation; the new industry spread along shipping areas to ease access to large commercial centers like St. Louis and Chicago; however, it was not until the Civil War, when Illinois railroads grew by leaps and bounds, that coal mining in Southern Illinois began to rapidly develop; and

WHEREAS, The broader tri-state area lead mining region, the coal region in northern Illinois at the end of the nineteenth century, centered around places like Spring Valley, Braidwood, and Coal City, and the area around Vermilion County and Danville all had significant numbers of miners of African descent; and

WHEREAS, According to the Illinois Secretary of State's current website, "The 1853 Black Law passed in Illinois was considered the harshest of all discriminatory Black Laws passed by Northern states before the Civil War."; and

WHEREAS, The 1853 Black Law prohibited any person of African descent from outside of the state from staying in Illinois for more than ten days, and if a person of African descent remained beyond the ten-day period, they would be subject to arrest, detention, a $50 fine, or deportation; and

WHEREAS, The 1853 Black Law was often a tool used against whole communities when white citizens found that the increase in black population had reached an unacceptable level; people of African descent who violated the law faced punishments that included being advertised and sold at public auction; and

WHEREAS, The 1853 Black Law served, according to one author, "as grinding reminders of apartheid intentions and legal subjugation, and they offered white authorities and mobs excuses for harassment and violence against blacks."; and

WHEREAS, A wealthy freeman of African descent by the name of John Jones was instrumental in repealing the 1853 Black Law; with prodding from John Jones and the logic propelled by the results of the Civil War, the Illinois General Assembly repealed the Black Laws in early 1865; and

WHEREAS, The repeal of the Black Laws did not confer suffrage or civil rights on the state's people of African descent; instead, they had to wait for ratification of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 1885; and

WHEREAS, The 14th Amendment was passed in 1868 to help ensure the rights of newly freed people of African descent; men of African descent were given the right to vote in 1870 by the passage of the 15th Amendment; and

WHEREAS, The 1870 Illinois Constitution also provided those rights; the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 1885 was also passed forbidding discrimination in public facilities and places, such as hotels, railroads, theaters, and restaurants; and

WHEREAS, In the midst of these Constitutional wins, pro-slavery, segregation, and disenfranchisement laws know as "Jim Crow" were enacted; these laws required de jure segregation in all public places and a specific etiquette, while supposedly creating a separate but equal position for people of African descent; and

WHEREAS, Unfortunately for the people of African descent, the United States Supreme Court helped undermine their Constitutional protections with the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) case; this decision legitimized the pro-slavery Jim Crow laws and the Jim Crow etiquette; and

WHEREAS, The Civil War Reconstruction period brought a migration of people of African descent to Cairo in Alexander County; racial tensions under pro-slavery Jim Crow were always high in the community, but as the shipping and ferrying industries declined, jobs grew more scarce, and the racial unrest intensified; and

WHEREAS, Moreover, these laws solidified the position that America had two sets of citizens, those of European descent, or first class citizens, and people of African descent, or second class citizens; and

WHEREAS, Jim Crow etiquette further separated and essentially enslaved people of African descent; for example, a male person of African descent could not offer his hand to shake hands with a white male because it implied being socially equal; and

WHEREAS, At the same time, a male person of African descent could not offer his hand or any other part of his body to a white woman because he risked being accused of rape; and

WHEREAS, Similarly, people of African descent and white people were not supposed to eat together; if they did eat together, whites were to be served first, and some sort of partition was to be placed between them; and

WHEREAS, Without exception, a male person of African descent was not to offer to light the cigarette of a white woman; such a gesture would imply intimacy; and

WHEREAS, People of African descent were not allowed to show public affection toward one another in public, especially kissing, because it offended whites; and

WHEREAS, Pro-slavery Jim Crow etiquette required that people of African descent be first introduced to white people, never the opposite; at the same time, white people were not to use courtesy titles of respect when referring to people of African descent (i.e. Mr., Mrs., Miss., Sir, or Ma'am); and

WHEREAS, Instead, people of African descent were called by their first names and had to use courtesy titles when referring to white people; people of African descent were not allowed to call white people by their first names; for example: "Mr. Reagan (the white person), this is Malcolm (the person of African descent), that I spoke to you about."; and

WHEREAS, With respect to transportation, if a person of African descent rode in a car driven by a white person, the person of African descent sat in the back seat or the back of a truck; and

WHEREAS, Finally, white motorists had the right-of-way at all intersections; and

WHEREAS, These pro-slavery Jim Crow laws sparked race riots in Illinois as people of African descent began to relocate from the South; the first race riot occurred in 1908 in Springfield; and

WHEREAS, The fact that the riots occurred in Illinois, "The Land of Lincoln", proved that people of African descent were mistreated and brutalized not only in the south but everywhere; in this case, a white mob of 5,000 people beat people of African descent throughout Sangamon county; and

WHEREAS, In mid-August 1908, the white population of Springfield reacted to reports that a white woman had been assaulted in her home by a man of African descent; soon afterward, another instance of an assault by a man of African descent on a white woman was reported; these incidents, coming within hours of each other, sparked a gathering of a mob; and

WHEREAS, Mob leaders carefully directed the participants to destroy only homes and businesses either owned by blacks or which served black patrons, thus leaving nearby white homes and businesses untouched; and

WHEREAS, This white mob looted businesses that served those of African descent and lynched several people of African descent; and

WHEREAS, Throughout World War I, people of African descent continued migrating north for jobs, education, and opportunities and to escape Jim Crow; another race riot occurred in East St. Louis in 1917; and

WHEREAS, Up to 250 people of African descent were beaten, shot, lynched, and killed; nine white people were killed, and 6,000 people of African descent were left homeless; and

WHEREAS, A large number of people of African descent fled East St. Louis; the enrollment in local public schools plummeted by 35% in the fall; in other words, 1 out of 3 children left the City of East St. Louis after the riots of 1917; and

WHEREAS, From 1918-1919, the Spanish Flu pandemic killed 23,500 people in Illinois and 675,000 in America; and

WHEREAS, At the same time, the summer of 1919 was called "the Red Summer" due to the bloodbath in race riots in 26 American cities, including 38 people killed in a Chicago race riot; and

WHEREAS, Chicago was a laboratory for segregation; the tools of analyzing real estate and racial data were being created in Chicago in the early 20th century; other tools, such as restrictive covenants, to segregate the city based on race were created in Chicago; and

WHEREAS, In 1927, the City of Chicago continued with racist housing practices during the Great Migration; the Chicago Real Estate Board (CREB) sent representatives throughout the city to promote restrictive covenants; and

WHEREAS, The board representatives provided model contracts drafted by the Chicago Plan Commission as part of their efforts; by 1928, the Hyde Park Herald reported that the covenants prevailed throughout the South Side; and

WHEREAS, Most neighborhoods of people of African descent were bounded by covenanted areas, since 85% of Chicago was covenanted; and

WHEREAS, After the stock market crash of 1929, FDR introduced the New Deal; contained in this bold plan was the creation of the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) with the purpose of aiding homeowners in default to prevent foreclosures; and

WHEREAS, In the early 1930s, it was soon discovered that pro-slavery ideals remained in housing; the racist attitudes and language found in HOLC appraisal sheets and Residential Security Maps created by the HOLC gave federal support to racist land use practices that helped to further marginalize people of African descent in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, This practice of "redlining" in the 1930s locked neighborhoods of African descent into concentrated poverty by systematically diminishing home ownership, home values, and median credit scores; and

WHEREAS, During World War II, people of African descent emigrating to Chicago were directed to the "Black Belt" for their housing needs; this area was generally bounded between 12th and 79th streets and Wentworth and Cottage Grove avenues; and

WHEREAS, Approximately 60,000 people of African descent moved to Chicago during 1940 to 1944 in search of jobs; in an effort to keep the newly arriving people of African descent out of their neighborhoods, white people formed restrictive covenants; and

WHEREAS, This housing system in Chicago led to overcrowding in the Black Belt; such overcrowding, while difficult in itself, also contributed to generally poor housing conditions for people of African descent; and

WHEREAS, Demand for housing far exceeded its supply after World War II; this led to rent gouging, a practice where exorbitant rental amounts were charged for small kitchenettes with no heat, no bathroom, and deplorable conditions; and

WHEREAS, These conditions of ramshackle and dangerous housing, neglect and indifference from city officials, and poor sanitation resulted in infestation by rats in the Black Belt; infant mortality and overall death rates were higher in the Black Belt than in the rest of Chicago; and

WHEREAS, The "Southern Illinois Black Belt" in East St. Louis has an aging housing stock where people of African descent have lived since 1720; in 1985, as the housing stock aged and there were inadequate resources to preserve it, HUD placed the East St. Louis public housing system under federal administrative receivership; and

WHEREAS, According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, "[r]eceiverships at housing authorities have generally resulted from long-standing, severe, and persistent management problems that led to deterioration of the housing stock."; and

WHEREAS, Yet, for 32 years, HUD did little to comprehensively address issues concerning the aging complexes in East St. Louis, which severely compromised the housing stock for the people of African descent in East St. Louis; many of the people of African descent say that the public housing stock was infested with rats; and

WHEREAS, In 2017, HUD officially transitioned housing authority of the City of East St. Louis to local control after 32 years of federal administrative receivership; HUD's oversight of East St. Louis was the first and longest receivership of a local public housing authority in HUD's history; and

WHEREAS, The East St. Louis housing authority may be eligible for Replacement Housing Factor Fund grants, which are awarded to housing authorities that have removed units from inventory for the purpose of developing new public housing units; and

WHEREAS, Only two other housing authorities in America are under federal administrative receivership; one is in Cairo, and the other is in Gary, Indiana, just outside of Chicago; and

WHEREAS, In 1988, after electing a person of African descent as mayor, some white residents living in Chicago's "Bungalow Belt" (i.e. single-family homes built in the 1910s and 1920s in a collar on the northwest side and southwest side of Chicago's city limits), pushed for reforms and insurance if persons of African descent moved into the Bungalow Belt and property values dropped; in response, the legislature created three home equity taxing districts for the white home owners living in the Bungalow Belt; and

WHEREAS, On a most basic level, all homeowners in these taxing districts pay a small tax to a fund; homeowners voluntarily enroll in the equity program, and if the appraisal is less than the original purchase price when they decide to sell then that homeowner receives a cash claim for the difference; very few, if any, people of African descent are enrolled in this well-funded program; and

WHEREAS, In February of 2016, the Alexander County Housing Authority in Cairo (ACHA) was placed under federal administrative receivership; there was strong evidence that the ACHA failed to maintain the Elmwood and McBride complexes, resulting in significant degradation in the quality of the housing in Cairo where people of African descent reside; and

WHEREAS, A year later, HUD announced to 185 families that the Elmwood and McBride housing complexes in Cairo would be closed and its residents relocated; this meant that almost 400 people would be forced to leave the city as there was not sufficient HUD-sanctioned housing in town; and

WHEREAS, In reported interviews, HUD explained it was hesitant to take Cairo into receivership as it could take many years to execute, require four to five full-time employees, and cost more than $5 million; and

WHEREAS, From 2012 to 2018, for every $1 banks loaned in Chicago's white neighborhoods, they invested just 12 cents in the city's neighborhoods of African descent; JPMorgan Chase, for instance, lent 41 times more money in Chicago's white neighborhoods than African-descent neighborhoods; and

WHEREAS, During that same time period, Bank of America lent 29 times more money in Chicago's white communities than it did in African-descent communities; Wells Fargo lent 10 times more in white areas than African-descent areas, and Guaranteed Rate lent 15 times more in Chicago's white communities than its African-descent communities; and

WHEREAS, The air quality in communities of African descent is far below acceptable standards; the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) recently reported that people of African descent in minority neighborhoods on the West and South Sides of Chicago have the greatest exposure to toxic air pollution and other environmental health hazards in the city; and

WHEREAS, The communities of Englewood and Roseland rank remarkably high for pollution exposure in Chicago according to the NRDC; Chicago has acknowledged that there are disproportionate pollution problems across Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Midway through 2020, the world faces a pandemic like it did in 1920; so far, this pandemic has killed 120,000 in the U.S.; in Illinois, as of May 15, 2020, approximately 6,300 Illinoisans have died; and

WHEREAS, During the course of this pandemic, like it did in 1920, racial uprisings occurred throughout communities of African descent after a white police officer, while on openly conspicuous videotape, suffocated a man of African descent for nine minutes because he committed, if at all, a petty crime; prior to that, a white Chicago Police Officer shot an unarmed teenager of African descent 16 times for committing, if at all, a petty offense; and

WHEREAS, The new currency in life is compassion; while Illinois has grown and become a global power, the people of Illinois cannot ignore the contributions of people of African descent who were the catalyst to the economic growth of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, The people of Illinois also can not ignore the injustices that were and continue to be barriers to an equal society; without question, there is a marked contrast between the communities for people of African descent, other minority communities, and the majority white community; and

WHEREAS, Illinois currently has 3,123 census tracts, 9,691 block groups, and 451,554 census blocks; and

WHEREAS, Census tracts generally have a population size between 1,200 and 8,000 people, with an optimal size of 4,000 people; a block group is a cluster of blocks within a census tract; and

WHEREAS, In the urban cores of most older cities, census blocks are small because development preceded the introduction of urban transportation technologies (such as interurban railways, streetcars, and the automobile) and the decentralization of industries and jobs; surrounding these urban cores in the eastern and southern regions of the nation, one typically finds dense, irregular street patterns and an extensive system of connecting roads due principally to the metes and bounds survey; and

WHEREAS, Today, the energy sector has the ability to create no cost electricity from the earth that was worked by slaves in Illinois for 300 years; there is currently legislation in Illinois designed to exponentially increase renewable energy generation, but the companies leading this effort are not businesses led or owned by people of African descent; and

WHEREAS, For example, a microgrid of unknown cost is currently underway for an community of African descent in Chicago; it will be located in an area bounded from 33rd Street to the North, 38th Street to the South, State Street to the West, and South Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Drive to the East; and

WHEREAS, Phase I of the project will include 2.5 MW of load and require reconfiguration of an existing feeder and installation of battery storage and solar photovoltaics; it will directly serve approximately 490 customers; and

WHEREAS, Phase II of the project will add approximately 570 customers and an additional 4.5 MW of load and 7 MW of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), enough to meet the peak electricity demand of customers within the microgrid footprint and maintain service when the microgrid is islanded from the main grid; the completed project will serve approximately 1,060 residential, commercial, and small industrial customers; and

WHEREAS, This microgrid project contemplates that 1 MW of energy will service 150 customers from a base load perspective; if DERs are included in the calculation, the number of customers would climb to 300; and

WHEREAS, Notably, the microgrid contemplates that customers will be either homes, businesses, and/or small industrial business; and

WHEREAS, In 2013, natural gas utilities Peoples Gas, Ameren Illinois, and Nicor Gas began performing infrastructure upgrades; for example, in Chicago, The Peoples Gas System Modernization Program (SMP) is underway; and

WHEREAS, SMP is an accelerated, comprehensive, multi-decade program to remove and replace 2,300 miles of 100 year-old, deteriorating cast or ductile iron pipe and upgrade its blow pressure natural gas delivery system to a medium pressure system; and

WHEREAS, The broadband sector has also engaged in enhanced wireless and internet capabilities; Cook, Mason, and Washington counties are targeted for significant technological upgrades; and

WHEREAS, An integration of wired and wireless technology is the current movement of society; soon networks will be virtualized, and there will be enhanced experiences on mobile devices; and

WHEREAS, In 2018, the median property value in Illinois was $203,400, and the homeownership rate was 66%; notably, the median property value in Chicago was $271,600, and the homeownership rate was 45.7%; and

WHEREAS, Alternatively, the median property value in East St. Louis was $55,000, and the homeownership rate was 43.5%; at the same time, the median property value in Cairo was $30,500, and the homeownership rate was 58.5%; and

WHEREAS, Finally, the median household incomes in East St. Louis, Cairo, Chicago, and the State of Illinois as a whole are $20,659, $24,549, $57,238, and $65,030, respectively; the disparities between the communities of African descent and other communities is apparent both visually and from the data; and

WHEREAS, Black homeownership rates are lower today than they were 50 years ago when housing discrimination was outlawed, and they are particularly bad in Chicago; and

WHEREAS, There has never been a successful affirmative action housing policy in the State of Illinois for people of African descent; such a plan is not a novel concept, as one was proposed during the Civil War while the pro-slavery movement began to suffer defeats; and

WHEREAS, General William T. Sherman entered Executive Field Order #15 on January 16, 1865; his field order first designated certain captured lands along the coastlines of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida (i.e. Charleston to Jacksonville along the coastline and then 30 miles inward); and

WHEREAS, By General Sherman's order, subject to ratification by President Lincoln, the specified coastal tract of land was gifted to people of African descent for their own agricultural and housing purposes following slavery; by the order, each family of African descent was awarded "a plot of not more than forty acres of tillable ground"; and

WHEREAS, Before it was ratified, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated; President Andrew Johnson, from Raleigh, North Carolina, assumed the presidency; and

WHEREAS, President Johnson soon revoked General Sherman's order hampering efforts by people of African descent to gain economic independence after the Emancipation Proclamation; President Johnson was later the first president to be impeached for abuse of power and other high crimes and misdemeanors; and

WHEREAS, The regressive policies of the State of Illinois relating to people of African descent are well documented and date back 300 years; and

WHEREAS, Among other things, the regressive policies have created a stark contrast in the housing available to people of African descent and the housing available to people of non-African descent; and

WHEREAS, There is an immediate need to drastically improve the housing stock and the communities where people of African descent reside; and

WHEREAS, There is a compelling need to drastically improve the housing conditions of people of African descent residing in the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, The least restrictive means of drastically improving the housing stock, communities, and conditions of people of African descent is for the current Governor of the State of Illinois to act; and

WHEREAS, The Governor must act to shape a narrowly tailored approach to drastically improve the housing stock, communities, and conditions of people of African descent residing in the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Immediate affirmative action by the Governor is needed to counteract continuing conscious and unconscious biases and prejudices against people of African descent in the housing sector; and

WHEREAS, Such affirmative action in Illinois would not rise to the level of discrimination against other minorities, as no other minority group, apart from people of African descent, was enslaved in the State of Illinois from as early as 1720; and

WHEREAS, Moreover, no other minority group was discriminated against by being subjected to separate Slave Codes in Illinois; to that end, no other minority group was required in an apartheid-like fashion to produce a Certificate of Freedom and proof of a behavior bond to travel in public in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Furthermore, no other minority group in Illinois was discriminated against by being subject to Jim Crow laws and in many cases victims of Lynch Law, where they were hung, shot, burned at the stake, castrated, beaten with clubs, or dismembered; and

WHEREAS, Further still, no other minority group was discriminated against by being subject to redlining and restrictive covenants in Illinois' housing sector; and

WHEREAS, Finally, no other minority group, apart from people of African descent, was discriminated against by being subject to the greatest exposure to air toxicity, air pollution, and other environmental health hazards; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that it is in the best interest of the people of Illinois for the Governor of the State of Illinois to immediately act to shape a narrowly tailored approach to drastically improve the housing stock, communities, and conditions of and for people of African descent residing in the State of Illinois; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the Governor of the State of Illinois and the Illinois General Assembly to invoke the principles of the Equitable Economic Land Use Plan of 2020 with all deliberate speed; and be it further

RESOLVED, That there is an immediate need for legislation, emergency rules, and/or a gubernatorial executive order to (1) authorize funding and matching grants to municipalities and private investors for the construction of housing, commercial real estate, microgrids, water, sewer, gas, broadband technology, and clean energy generation and storage in low-income communities, (2) authorize funding and matching grants to municipalities and private investors for urban beautification, greenspace, and community gardens in low-income communities, (3) create heightened home equity taxing districts, opportunity zones, empowerment zones, enterprise zones, tax increment financing districts, and Special Service Areas in low-income communities, and (4) authorize funding and matching grants to municipalities and private investors to construct community centers, grocery stores, gymnasiums, and natatoriums in low-income communities; and be it further

RESOLVED, That there is long term need for legislation, emergency rules, and/or a gubernatorial executive order to (1) fund existing and created housing programs for people of African descent which shall include, but shall not be limited to, professional services, property tax relief, and navigators of and counselors for the land use process, (2) provide rent subsidies for elderly and disabled people of African descent, (3) provide specific property tax relief for the elderly and disabled people of African descent, (4) provide property tax relief for adults 21 years of age to 18 years of age for people of African descent, (5) enable people of African descent to make no or very low down payments to obtain mortgages; to authorize funding in conjunction with the Creating American Investment, Redevelopment, and Opportunity (CAIRO) Task Force Act to address the housing crisis in Cairo, (6) underwrite and secure mortgages for people of African descent who choose to reside in a census tract designated by the Equitable Economic Land Use Plan of 2020, (7) authorize the acquisition of real estate designated by the Equitable Economic Land Use Plan of 2020 via eminent domain and quick take authority, (8) partner regularly with the Chicago Department of Planning and Development (DPD) to provide insight and information regarding their efforts to invest in communities of persons of African descent, and (9) appoint an Emergency Task Force to facilitate the purposes of the Equitable Economic Land Use Plan of 2020; and be it further

RESOLVED, That there is long term need for legislation, emergency rules, and/or a gubernatorial executive order to reform the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure and the Mortgage Act and to further fund existing and created housing programs that will assist people of African descent in the facilitation of the Equitable Economic Land Use Plan of 2020; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the real property in census tracts designated by the Equitable Economic Land Use Plan of 2020 should be valued as of July 1, 2020 and should be based upon its fair cash market value at its highest and best use on July 1, 2020 for purposes of the Equitable Economic Land Use Plan of 2020; and be it further

RESOLVED, That because Pierre Menard was a slaveowner in the Metro East, the name of the Menard Correctional Center should revert back to the Southern Illinois Penitentiary; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to Governor JB Pritzker, House Speaker Michael Madigan, Senate President Don Harmon, House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, Senate Minority Leader Bill Brady, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Cairo Mayor Tyrone Coleman, East St. Louis Mayor Robert Eastern III, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the Illinois Department of Corrections, and the Illinois Housing Development Authority.