Civil and Human Rights Coalition Applauds Proposal to Honor 400 Years of African-American History

WASHINGTON – Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on the introduction of legislation to establish a commission to honor 2019’s 400-year anniversary of the arrival of Africans to America. The goals of the legislation, which was introduced by Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Representatives Bobby Scott and G. K. Butterfield, further those of the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent, which started in 2015 and will continue through 2024:

“In 2019, our nation will mark 400 years of African-American history, and given the magnitude of that milestone, it is more than fitting to establish a commission to plan programs and activities to honor Black contributions to American life.

Over the course of four centuries, our nation has come a long way from treating Blacks as chattel slaves. Yet despite our progress, inequality and disadvantage are still pervasive due to discrimination, both direct and indirect, de facto and de jure. Commemorations such as these can educate all Americans about the nation’s history and spur the action our country needs to advance toward full equality in all aspects of society.

Significantly, this anniversary coincides with the International Decade for People of African Descent, which acknowledges the rich lives and history of the African diaspora worldwide, and calls on all countries to do this as well. The commission’s work would make a great contribution to this effort.

We applaud Senators Kaine and Warner and Representatives Scott and Butterfield for their leadership and urge Congress to pass this legislation.”

Wade Henderson is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

###