IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 42 

Recognizing the contributions of the New York Public Library’s Schomburg 

Center for Research in Black Culture in educating the people of the 

United States about the African-American migration experience, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2009 

Mr. RANGEL submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the contributions of the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture 

in educating the people of the United States about the 

African-American migration experience, and for other 

purposes. 

Whereas, during Black History Month, it is important that 

we acknowledge the struggle and suffering of the more 

than 12,000,000 men, women, and children, who were 

transported in bondage from their African homelands to 

the Americas, and the native-born 1,200,000 men, 

women, and children, who were displaced in the forced 

migration that was the domestic slave trade, but also to 

acknowledge migrations of African-Americans between 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
2 

•HCON 42 IH 

the regions and continents that were voluntary and motivated by free will, ambition, and courage; 

Whereas an estimated 50,000 African-Americans attempted 

or succeeded in running away to freedom to northern cities, Canada, the western territories of the United States, 

and Mexico; 

Whereas discrimination, political suppression, and economic 

privation led thousands of African-Americans to search 

for equality and freedom through emigration or colonization in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Haiti, and other African 

and Caribbean countries; 

Whereas political unrest and revolution led to a wave of black 

immigrants from Haiti to the United States, and these 

immigrants settled in Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania, 

Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, but primarily in 

Louisiana, bringing with them a commitment to the principles of a free and mobile society, a legacy of revolutionary republicanism, an unflagging commitment to the 

democratic ideals of the romantic era, and the courage to 

challenge racial oppression; 

Whereas the search for freedom and opportunity led AfricanAmericans in years before the Civil War and in the antebellum era to engage in a series of migrations, with the 

western migration moving to California, the Dakotas, 

Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, 

Texas, Utah, and Washington, and the northern migration populating cities in the east and west, including Boston, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Detroit, New Bedford, New 

York, Philadelphia, and Providence; 

Whereas the ongoing quest for economic opportunity and 

equality inspired the Great Migration, from 1916 to 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
3 

•HCON 42 IH 

1930, when more than one-tenth of the country’s black 

population moved northward and began the nationalization of the African-American population, and was followed by the Second Great Migration, from 1946 to the 

1970s, when 5,000,000 African-Americans left the South 

for urban centers in the North and West, leading to the 

concentration of these populations in cities, and a growing political, social and cultural movement; 

Whereas 4,500,000 United States residents traced their national origins to Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican 

Republic by 2000, and these immigrants and their descendents reshaped the cultural landscape of American 

communities and contributed to eroding the traditional 

dichotomy between Black and White people that has been 

prevalent in United States history; 

Whereas, over the past 30 years, more Africans have come 

voluntarily to the United States than came during the 

era of the transatlantic slave trade, and these immigrants, often from Sub-Saharan Africa, have been quick 

to seize educational and professional opportunities and 

have established themselves as one of the most dynamic 

and entrepreneurial groups in the country; 

Whereas the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center 

for Research in Black Culture has created an Internet 

presentation called ‘‘In Motion: The African-American 

Migration Experience’’ that presents the history of the 

great migrations of the African-American people across 

oceans and over continents to diverse countries, regions, 

and island nations, and back across geographic divides, 

from rural agricultural lands to urban landscapes, from 

slavery and debasement to freedom and triumph; and 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
4 

•HCON 42 IH 

Whereas based on the resources of the Schomburg Center for 

Research in Black Culture, ‘‘In Motion: The AfricanAmerican Migration Experience’’ describes 13 defining 

migrations that transformed the United States, Africa, 

and the Caribbean using 13 individual narratives, with 

more than 16,500 pages of texts, 8,300 illustrations, 60 

maps, and provides additional resources for students, including essays, books, articles, and manuscripts, as well 

as lesson plans for teachers: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That the Congress— 

3 (1) recognizes the contributions of the New 

4 York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Re5 search in Black Culture in educating the people of 

6 the United States about the African-American mi7 gration experience; 

8 (2) acknowledges the displacement, suffering, 

9 and loss of life and freedom that forced the move10 ment of populations from the lands of their birth in 

11 the transatlantic and domestic slave trade, and reaf12 firms the commitment to achieving racial, social, and 

13 political equality in the memory of those who lived 

14 and died in bondage; 

15 (3) honors the courage, initiative, and self-reli16 ance of immigrants who left their homeland in 

17 search of opportunity, prosperity, and social justice, 

18 and braved hardships, inequity, violence, and disVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:05 Feb 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HC42.IH HC42

rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
5 

•HCON 42 IH 

1 crimination, while recommitting the United States to 

2 relieving inequities and conquering injustices that 

3 pressure migrations and displace people from their 

4 homes; and 

5 (4) recommits itself to the goal of educating the 

6 racially diverse population of the United States to 

7 honor African-American migration as part of a com8 mon migratory tradition and to providing further 

9 support for library projects that provide a com10 prehensive history that illuminates the past and in11 forms our common future. 

Æ 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS