Page 8 The Skanner Seattle February 21, 2018
News
Bill to Celebrate 400 Years of Black History Passes U.S. House
Rep. Bobby Scott said that African Americans have contributed greatly to the United States and their
achievements deserve to be celebrated. This photo was taken during a forum on criminal justice reform
in Northwest Washington, D.C. in July 2015. (Freddie Allen/AMG/NNPA)
By Lauren Victoria
Burke (NNPA Newswire
Contributor)
n a rare display of
bipartisanship
in
Congress, the United
States House of Rep-
resentatives voted to es-
tablish a commission to
examine 400 years of Af-
rican American history.
House bill H.R. 1242
is designed “to develop
and carry out activities
I
Point Comfort, Vir-
ginia, in 1619.”
Lauren
Rep. Bobby Scott
Victoria
(D-Va.) sponsored
Burke
the bill in the House
and Senators Tim
NNPA
Kaine (D-Va.) and
Columnist
Mark Warner (D-
Va.)
sponsored
the
bill
in
the
Senate,
throughout the United
where
it’s
waiting
to be
States to commemorate
passed.
the 400th anniversary
According to Wash-
of the arrival of Africans
ington
insiders, the bill
in the English colonies at
will most likely pass by
unanimous consent in
the Senate.
Once the bill known
as the “400 Years of Af-
rican American History
Commission Act,” or H.R.
1242 in the House, pass-
es Congress, it will land
on President Donald
Trump’s desk.
If H.R. 1242 becomes
law, the resulting com-
mission would consist of
15 members, who would
serve without pay. The
legislation would autho-
rize the commission to
create grants to commu-
nities, nonprofits and
other groups to hold
events that would com-
memorate the anniver-
sary of slaves arriving
in the U.S. The commis-
sion could hire staff and
also accept volunteers to
perform its mission. The
commission would be re-
quired to submit a report
to Congress and termi-
nate in July of 2020.
In a statement about
the bill last year, Kaine
said that he’s been lucky
to be a part of federal
commissions that have
been formed to study
and celebrate English
and Hispanic history.
“Well, if English lives
matter, if Latino lives
matter, then African
American lives matter
and they’ve mattered ev-
ery day since the landing
of those ‘20 and odd’ Af-
rican Americans at Point
Comfort, Virginia,” said
Kaine.
Kaine continued: “The
story has a lot of pain to
it, but it’s a story that has
to be told to commemo-
rate that we as a nation—
had it not been for 400
years of African Amer-
ican history—would be
absolutely unrecogniz-
able. What we hope to do
with this bill is engage in
something we should do
to tell the story in a dif-
ferent way than it may
have been told 50 to 100
years ago.”
In late March, the Con-
gressional Budget Office
estimated, “that imple-
menting the bill would
cost about $2 million a
year—a total of $6 mil-
lion over the 2018-2021
period.”
In a floor statement
about the bill last sum-
mer, Rep. Bobby Scott
said that African Amer-
icans have contributed
greatly to the United
States and their achieve-
ments deserve to be cele-
brated.
“The history of Virgin-
ia and our nation can-
not be fully understood
without recognizing the
role played by the slave
trade,” said Scott. “Slav-
ery was an abhorrent
institution; but for hun-
dreds of years, it was the
foundation of the colo-
nial and early American
agricultural system and
was essential to its eco-
nomic sustainability.”
Scott
continued:
“The 400 Years of Afri-
can-American History
Commission Act will be
instrumental in recog-
nizing and highlighting
the resilience and contri-
butions of African Amer-
icans since 1619. From
slavery, to fighting in the
Civil War, to working
against the oppression
of Jim Crow segregation,
to the civil rights move-
ment, the rich history of
African Americans and
their contributions to
our Nation began hun-
dreds of years ago but
obviously does not end
there.”
Lauren Victoria Burke
is a speaker, writer and
political analyst. She ap-
pears on “NewsOne Now”
with Roland Martin every
Monday. Lauren is also
a frequent contributor to
the NNPA Newswire and
BlackPressUSA.com.