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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E884]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SPRINGFIELD RACE RIOT STUDY ACT
______
speech of
HON. RODNEY DAVIS
of illinois
in the house of representatives
Monday, September 21, 2020
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of
my bill H.R. 139, the Springfield Race Riot National Historic Monument
Act, to designate the site of the 1908 Springfield Race Riots as a
National Historic Monument to preserve and recognize it as an important
part of our nation's history. I am proud of the support this bill has
received, and that the House Natural Resources Committee came together
in a bipartisan way to amend this bill to pass it as the Springfield
Race Riot Study Act, the next step in designating it as part of the
National Park System (NPS).
This site represents one of the three worst race riots in our
nation's history, where terrible and appalling events of racially
motivated mass violence were committed against African Americans for
merely existing in their own community, destroying an entire
neighborhood as a result. The site and artifacts were unearthed during
construction of the Carpenter Street segment of the Springfield Rail
Improvements Project and consists of the remains of five homes that
were burned during the 1908 Springfield Race Riot. This event, and
others like it in Illinois demonstrated that racial injustice was not
an isolated issue only in the South, but one that must be addressed
across the country.
Ultimately the riots that occurred at the site played an integral
role in the formation of the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP) when Ida B. Wells-Barnett, a key leader in
the African American civil rights movement, launched an anti-lynching
campaign to end violence against African Americans as a result of the
horrific events that occurred in Springfield. In 1909, just a year
later, the NAACP was established, working tirelessly to improve race
relations and to ensure that the events that happened just over a
hundred years ago would never happen again.
Just last month, we were successful in adding the Springfield Race
Riot site to the African American Civil Rights Network in order to give
it proper recognition immediately while we continue our work to
designate the site as part of the NPS. The Site is now among several
other important places that serve to commemorate and interpret the
history of the African American Civil Rights movement. Also included in
the Network is the Pullman National Monument in Chicago, which
recognizes the first major labor agreement between a company and the
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first African American led
labor union; the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail, which
traces the route of the 1965 Voting Rights March in Alabama; and the
A.P. Tureaud House in Louisiana, which was the home of the prominent
civil rights attorney and legal counsel for the NAACP for more than
three decades; along with many others.
I thank the bipartisan group of my colleagues who supported this
bill, Rep. Darin LaHood, Rep. Albio Sires, Rep. John H. Rutherford,
Rep. Robin L. Kelly, Rep. Bob Gibbs, Rep. Andre Carson, Rep. Don Bacon,
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, Rep. Mike Bost, Rep. Mike Quigley, Rep. Val
Butler Demings, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Rep. Alma S. Adams, Rep. Raja
Krishnamoorthi, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Rep. Marcia L. Fudge, Rep.
Steve Cohen, and Rep. Sean Casten.
I also thank Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay, who co-sponsored my bill and led the
African American Civil Rights Network Act of 2017, which was signed
into law in January 2018. This Act established this important Network
that I am proud the Springfield Race Riot Site is now part of. Thank
you to House Natural Resources Chairman Raul Grijalva and Ranking
Member Rob Bishop for their support and moving this bill through their
Committee.
Thank you to the Springfield Branch of the NAACP, the Illinois NAACP,
the Central Illinois African American Museum, and the Library of
Congress, for their efforts to preserve the artifacts, and raise
awareness regarding the importance of this site.
We must continue this work to preserve and protect this site for
present and future generations. It is imperative that we never forget
the work that's been done or the innocent lives that were lost, and the
work we must continue to do.
____________________
