IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 990 
Recognizing racism as a national crisis and the need for a truth and 
reconciliation process. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 4, 2020 
Mrs. BEATTY submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak-
er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju-
risdiction of the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing racism as a national crisis and the need for 
a truth and reconciliation process. 
Whereas racism is a social system with multiple dimensions— 
individual racism that is internalized or interpersonal, 
and systemic racism that is institutional, or structural, 
and is a system of structuring opportunity and assigning 
value based on the social interpretation of how one looks; 
Whereas race is a social construct with no biological basis; 
Whereas racism unfairly disadvantages specific individuals 
and communities, while unfairly giving advantages to 
other individuals and communities, and saps the strength 
of the whole society through the waste of human re-
sources; 
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Whereas racism is a root cause of poverty and constricts eco-
nomic mobility; 
Whereas racism causes persistent discrimination and dis-
parate outcomes in many areas of life, including housing, 
education, employment, and criminal justice, and an 
emerging body of research demonstrates that racism 
itself is a social determinant of health; 
Whereas African Americans face obstacles to economic oppor-
tunity, with higher unemployment rates (16.7 percent for 
African Americans compared to 14.7 percent overall in 
April 2020), a higher poverty rate as a community (20.8 
percent for African Americans compared to 11.8 percent 
overall in 2018), lower home ownership rates (44 percent 
for African Americans compared to 65.3 percent overall), 
and a significant wealth gap (with a net worth for a typ-
ical Black household of $17,150 compared to $171,000 
for an average White family); 
Whereas African Americans experience disproportionate 
interactions with law enforcement and the criminal jus-
tice system, as demonstrated by higher incarceration 
rates (1,501 African Americans per 100,000 compared to 
698 people per 100,000 overall), and 40 percent of the 
people who are incarcerated in the United States are 
Black; 
Whereas far too many Black Americans have lost their lives 
at the hands of law enforcement and to violence per-
petrated while engaging in lawful activities—while com-
prising just 12 percent of the population, they are 4 
times as likely to be killed by a police officer while being 
unarmed and not attacking, compared to a Caucasian/ 
White individual, and are 2.5 times more likely to be 
killed by police in general; 
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Whereas 69 percent of the victims of police brutality in the 
United States who are Black were suspected of a non-
violent crime and were unarmed; 
Whereas millions of Americans and people in countries across 
the globe united to peacefully protest the senseless killing 
of George Floyd who died while in the custody of 4 police 
officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020, 
from a knee held on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 sec-
onds, and the unabated police brutality and racial injus-
tices committed against Black people in the United 
States; 
Whereas racism and segregation have exacerbated a health 
divide resulting in Black Americans having lower life 
expectancies than White Americans, being far more likely 
than other races to die prematurely (before the age of 
75), and to die of heart disease or stroke; 
Whereas Black Americans have higher levels of infant mor-
tality, have lower birth weights, and are more likely to be 
overweight or obese, have adult diabetes, and have long- 
term complications from diabetes; 
Whereas communities of color, working class residents, and 
those who live with disabilities are more likely to experi-
ence poor health outcomes as a consequence of their so-
cial determinants of health—health inequities stemming 
from economic stability, education, physical environment, 
food, and access to health care systems; 
Whereas more than 100 studies have linked racism to worse 
health outcomes; and 
Whereas the collective prosperity of the United States de-
pends upon the equitable access to opportunity for every 
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