WASHINGTON, D.C. (WVEC) -- Today, a group of U.S. Senators alongside the NAACP introduced legislation that would establish a commission to plan programs and activities in 2019 across the country to recognize the arrival and influence of Africans in America.
This piece of legislation is the 400 Years of African American History Act and was introduced by U.S. Senators Tim Kaine, Mark Warner, Congressmen Bobby Scott, Don Beyer, G.K. Butterfield, Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, as well as Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP Washingto Bureau.
Similar commissions have been established to recognize English & Hispanic heritage, including the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Va. and the 450th anniversary of the founding of St. Augustine, Fla.
This commission in particular would be charged with recognizing and highlighting the resilience and contribution of African Americans since 1619, as well as acknowledging the painful impact that slavery and laws that enforced racial discrimination have had on our nation's history.
"I've 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 every day since the landing of those '20 and odd' African Americans at Point Comfort, Virginia," Kaine said.
"The story has a lot of pain to it, but it's a story that has to be told to commemorate that we as a nation – had it not been for 400 years of African American history – would be absolutely unrecognizable. What we hope to do with this bill is engage in something we should do to tell the story in a different way than it may have been told 50 to 100 years ago," Kaine added.
"The commission established by this legislation will play a key role in recognizing, understanding, and celebrating the resilience and contributions of African Americans in the history of our nation," said Hilary Shelton, Director, NAACP Washington Bureau & Senior Vice President for Policy and Advocacy.
"It will also offer an important opportunity for discussion on a number of issues, including the ever-growing influence of people of African descent in the daily lives of all Americans," she added. The NAACP would like to thank Senator Kaine and Congressman Scott, as well as all of the co-sponsors of this important legislation, for their efforts, vision, and their foresight."
This legislation is also co-sponsored by Virginia Congressmen Randy Forbes and Scott Rigell, as well as members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including Congressman John Lewis, and supported by the NAACP and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
