H. Res. 194 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

July 29, 2008. 

Whereas millions of Africans and their descendants were 

enslaved in the United States and the 13 American colonies from 1619 through 1865; 

Whereas slavery in America resembled no other form of involuntary servitude known in history, as Africans were captured and sold at auction like inanimate objects or animals; 

Whereas Africans forced into slavery were brutalized, humiliated, dehumanized, and subjected to the indignity of 

being stripped of their names and heritage; 

Whereas enslaved families were torn apart after having been 

sold separately from one another; 

Whereas the system of slavery and the visceral racism against 

persons of African descent upon which it depended became entrenched in the Nation’s social fabric; 

Whereas slavery was not officially abolished until the passage 

of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865 after the end of the Civil War; 

Whereas after emancipation from 246 years of slavery, African-Americans soon saw the fleeting political, social, and 

economic gains they made during Reconstruction eviscerated by virulent racism, lynchings, disenfranchisement, 
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Black Codes, and racial segregation laws that imposed a 

rigid system of officially sanctioned racial segregation in 

virtually all areas of life; 

Whereas the system of de jure racial segregation known as 

‘‘Jim Crow,’’ which arose in certain parts of the Nation 

following the Civil War to create separate and unequal 

societies for whites and African-Americans, was a direct 

result of the racism against persons of African descent 

engendered by slavery; 

Whereas a century after the official end of slavery in America, Federal action was required during the 1960s to 

eliminate the dejure and defacto system of Jim Crow 

throughout parts of the Nation, though its vestiges still 

linger to this day; 

Whereas African-Americans continue to suffer from the complex interplay between slavery and Jim Crow—long after 

both systems were formally abolished—through enormous 

damage and loss, both tangible and intangible, including 

the loss of human dignity, the frustration of careers and 

professional lives, and the long-term loss of income and 

opportunity; 

Whereas the story of the enslavement and de jure segregation 

of African-Americans and the dehumanizing atrocities 

committed against them should not be purged from or 

minimized in the telling of American history; 

Whereas on July 8, 2003, during a trip to Goree Island, Senegal, a former slave port, President George W. Bush acknowledged slavery’s continuing legacy in American life 

and the need to confront that legacy when he stated that 

slavery ‘‘was . . . one of the greatest crimes of history 

. . . The racial bigotry fed by slavery did not end with 
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slavery or with segregation. And many of the issues that 

still trouble America have roots in the bitter experience 

of other times. But however long the journey, our destiny 

is set: liberty and justice for all.’’; 

Whereas President Bill Clinton also acknowledged the deepseated problems caused by the continuing legacy of racism against African-Americans that began with slavery 

when he initiated a national dialogue about race; 

Whereas a genuine apology is an important and necessary 

first step in the process of racial reconciliation; 

Whereas an apology for centuries of brutal dehumanization 

and injustices cannot erase the past, but confession of 

the wrongs committed can speed racial healing and reconciliation and help Americans confront the ghosts of 

their past; 

Whereas the legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia has 

recently taken the lead in adopting a resolution officially 

expressing appropriate remorse for slavery and other 

State legislatures have adopted or are considering similar 

resolutions; and 

Whereas it is important for this country, which legally recognized slavery through its Constitution and its laws, to 

make a formal apology for slavery and for its successor, 

Jim Crow, so that it can move forward and seek reconciliation, justice, and harmony for all of its citizens: 

Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

(1) acknowledges that slavery is incompatible with 

the basic founding principles recognized in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal; 
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(2) acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, 

brutality, and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow; 

(3) apologizes to African Americans on behalf of the 

people of the United States, for the wrongs committed 

against them and their ancestors who suffered under 

slavery and Jim Crow; and 

(4) expresses its commitment to rectify the lingering consequences of the misdeeds committed against 

African Americans under slavery and Jim Crow and to 

stop the occurrence of human rights violations in the future. 

Attest: 

Clerk.