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Senate Resolution

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A resolution apologizing for the wrongs of slavery and

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expressing profound regret for Florida's role in slavery.

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     WHEREAS, slavery has been documented as a worldwide practice

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since antiquity, dating back to 3500 B.C. in ancient Mesopotamia,

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and

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     WHEREAS, during the course of the infamous Atlantic Slave

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Trade, millions of Africans became involuntary immigrants to the

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New World, and millions more died during passage, the first

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African slaves in the North American colonies were brought to

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Jamestown, in 1619, and

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     WHEREAS, the Atlantic Slave Trade was a lucrative

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enterprise, and African slaves, a prized commodity to support the

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economic base of plantations in the colonies, were traded for

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tropical products, manufactured goods, sugar, molasses, and other

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merchandise, and

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     WHEREAS, some African captives resisted enslavement by

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fleeing from slave forts on the West African coast and others

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mutinied aboard slave-trading vessels, cast themselves into the

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Atlantic Ocean, or risked the cruel retaliation of their masters

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by running away to seek freedom, and

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     WHEREAS, although the United States outlawed the

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transatlantic slave trade in 1808, the domestic slave trade in

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the colonies and illegal importation continued for several more

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decades, and

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     WHEREAS, slavery, or the "Peculiar Institution," in the

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United States resembled no other form of involuntary servitude,

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as Africans were captured and sold at auction as chattel, like

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inanimate property or animals, and

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     WHEREAS, to prime Africans for slavery, the fundamental

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values of the Africans were shattered, they were brutalized,

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humiliated, dehumanized, and subjected to the indignity of being

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stripped of their names and heritage, women and girls were raped,

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and families were disassembled as husbands and wives, mothers and

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daughters, and fathers and sons were sold into slavery apart from

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one another, and

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     WHEREAS, multiple complex colonial laws were enacted to

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relegate the status of Africans and their descendants to slavery,

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in spite of their loyalty, dedication, and service to the

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country, including heroic and distinguished service in the Civil

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War, and

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     WHEREAS, by the mid-19th century, the system of slavery had

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become entrenched in American history and society, and the issue

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of enslaved Africans had to be addressed as a national issue,

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contributing to the Civil War from 1861 to 1865 and the passage

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of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which

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abolished slavery and involuntary servitude on December 18, 1865,

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and

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     WHEREAS, after emancipation from 246 years of slavery,

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African Americans soon saw the political, social, and economic

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gains they made during Reconstruction dissipated by virulent and

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rabid racism, lynchings, disenfranchisement of African American

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voters, Black Codes designed to reimpose the subordination of

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African Americans, and Jim Crow laws that instituted a rigid

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system of de jure segregation in virtually all areas of life and

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that lasted until the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and

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the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and

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     WHEREAS, throughout their existence in America and even in

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the decades after the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans

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have found the struggle to overcome the bitter legacy of slavery

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to be long and arduous, and for many African Americans the scars

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of slavery and the continuing afflictions of racism persist,

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preventing a sense of self-efficacy and clouding belief in a

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decent future for African Americans in America, and

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     WHEREAS, acknowledgment of the crimes and persecution

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visited upon other peoples during World War II is embraced lest

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the world forget, yet the very mention of the broken promise of

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"40 acres and a mule" to former slaves or of the existence of

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racism today evokes denial from many quarters of any

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responsibility for the centuries of legally sanctioned

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deprivation of African Americans' endowed rights or for

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contemporary policies that perpetuate the status quo, and

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     WHEREAS, in 2003, during a trip to Goree Island, Senegal, a

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former slave port, President George W. Bush stated, "At this

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place, liberty and life were stolen and sold. Human Beings were

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delivered and sorted, and weighed, and branded with the marks of

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commercial enterprises, and loaded as cargo on a voyage without

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return. One of the largest migrations of history was also one of

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the greatest crimes of history.... Small men took on the powers

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and airs of tyrants and masters. Years of unpunished brutality

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and bullying and rape produced a dullness and hardness of

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conscience. Christian men and women became blind to the clearest

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commands of their faith and added hypocrisy to injustice.... For

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250 years the captives endured an assault on their culture and

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their dignity.... While physical slavery is dead, the legacy is

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alive. My nation's journey toward justice has not been easy, and

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it is not over. The racial bigotry fed by slavery did not end

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with slavery or with segregation ... and many of the issues that

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still trouble America have roots in the bitter experience of

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other times.... We can finally judge the past by the standards of

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President John Adams, who called slavery 'an evil of colossal

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magnitude'," and

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     WHEREAS, in Florida, the vestiges of slavery are ever before

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African American citizens, from the overt racism of hate groups

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to the subtle racism encountered when requesting health care,

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transacting business, buying a home, seeking quality public

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education and college admission, and enduring pretextual traffic

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stops and other indignities, and

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     WHEREAS, European and African nations have apologized for

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their roles in what history calls the worst holocaust of

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humankind, the Atlantic Slave Trade, and racial reconciliation is

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impossible without some acknowledgment of the moral and legal

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injustices perpetrated upon African Americans, and

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     WHEREAS, an apology for centuries of brutal dehumanization

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and injustices cannot erase the past, but confession of the

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wrongs can speed racial healing and reconciliation and help

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African American and white citizens confront the ghosts of their

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collective pasts together, and

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     WHEREAS, the story of the enslavement of Africans and their

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descendants, the human carnage, and the dehumanizing atrocities

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committed during slavery should not be purged from Florida's

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history or discounted; rather, the faith, perseverance, hope, and

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endless triumphs of African Americans over adversity and their

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significant contributions to the development of this state and

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nation should be embraced, celebrated, and retold for generations

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to come, and

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     WHEREAS, the perpetual pain, distrust, and bitterness of

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many African Americans could be assuaged, and the principles

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espoused by the Founding Fathers would be affirmed, and great

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strides toward unifying all Floridians and Americans might be

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accomplished if, on the eve of the commemoration of the 400th

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anniversary of the first permanent English settlement in the New

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World, this state acknowledged and atoned for its pivotal role in

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the slavery of Africans, and

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     WHEREAS, what is needed is acknowledgement of the difference

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between wrong and right, the recognition that slavery as an

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American "Institution" was a great wrong committed upon millions

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of Black Americans, and that their descendents have inherited

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these wrongs, including, but not limited to, segregation, housing

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discrimination, discrimination in education, and other ills

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inflicted upon Black people, and

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     WHEREAS, the State of Florida, the Governor, and the

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residents of this state are conscious that under slavery many

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atrocities and gross violations of human rights were imposed upon

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Black people, and that acknowledging these facts can help to

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avert future tragedies, be they in the Sudan or other parts of

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the world, NOW, THEREFORE,

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Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:

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     That the Senate expresses its profound regret for the State

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of Florida's role in slavery and apologizes for the wrongs

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inflicted by slavery and its after-effects in the United States

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of America; expresses its deepest sympathies and solemn regrets

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to those who were enslaved and to their descendants, who were

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deprived of life, human dignity, and the constitutional

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protections promised to all citizens of the United States; and

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encourages remembrance and teaching about the history of slavery,

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Jim Crow laws, and modern-day slavery in order to ensure that

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these tragedies will not be forgotten or repeated.

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     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be

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transmitted to each state elected official; the Executive

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Director of the National Association for the Advancement of

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Colored People, Florida Chapter; and the Executive Director of

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The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Florida Chapter,

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requesting that they further disseminate copies of this

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resolution to their respective constituents so that they may be

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apprised of the sense of the Florida Senate in this matter.