Cohen Commemorates the 7th Anniversary of First-Ever Congressional Apology for Slavery and Jim Crow

[WASHINGTON, DC] –Congressman Steve Cohen issued the following statement to commemorate tomorrow’s seventh anniversary of the passage of H.Res.194, the first official Congressional apology for slavery and Jim Crow that the Congressman authored and shepherded through the House in 2008. The text of the apology is available here.

“July 29th marks the seventh anniversary of the passage of H.Res.194, the first-ever official Congressional apology for slavery and Jim Crow. As President Obama underscored in Charleston last month, the need remains for our nation to acknowledge past injustices and take action to rectify their lingering consequences. From educational disparities to the income and employment gaps and even deaths and injuries in police custody, slavery and Jim Crow have left unfair and unequal legacies that our country must face honestly.”

“In the past year we have seen much media coverage of deaths of African-Americans at the hands of police officers. We have seen violence based on prejudice against African-Americans and African-American churches. These tragedies are not a new phenomenon, but the heightened national awareness is, and it is long overdue. It is as clear as ever that we cannot ignore injustice and hope for it to disappear; we have to act.”

“Only by acknowledging that many African-Americans live with the consequences of our nation’s past sins and addressing them can we fully live up to our founding ideals: equal access to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Let’s move our nation forward toward the ‘more perfect union’ envisioned by our Constitution, that Abraham Lincoln sought, and that President Obama is working to realize.”