Delaware General Assembly

Signed 2/10/16

The General Assembly has ended, the current status is the final status.

1/8/16

Bolden

Reps. J. Johnson, Keeley, Potter
Sen. Henry

Reps. Baumbach, Bentz, Heffernan, Kowalko, Longhurst, Lynn, Osienski, Paradee, B. Short, M. Smith
Sen. Marshall, Peterson, Townsend

APOLOGIZING FOR THE WRONGS OF SLAVERY AND EXPRESSING DELAWARE'S PROFOUND REGRET FOR ITS ROLE IN SLAVERY.

In 2007, the Virginia General Assembly became the first state legislature to formally acknowledge and apologize for a state’s involvement in slavery. To date, the legislatures of 8 of the 18 states which had slaves in 1860 – Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia – have apologized for their roles in slavery. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution in 2008 apologizing for slavery and subsequent discriminatory laws, and the U.S. Senate passed a similar resolution in 2009. This Joint Resolution: (a) Acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow laws. (b) Apologizes, on behalf of the people of Delaware, for the State’s role in slavery and the wrongs committed against African-Americans and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow, after the Emancipation Proclamation. (c) Expresses the General Assembly’s deepest sympathies and solemn regrets to those who were enslaved and the descendants of those slaves, who were deprived of life, human dignity, and the constitutional protections accorded all citizens of the United States. (d) Recognizes the need to address and educate Delawareans of the social stigma, stereotyping, bias, and discrimination which prevail in the State today as vestiges of the institution of slavery. (e) Expresses the General Assembly’s 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. (f) Implores all Delawareans to be tolerant and understanding of one another, with a goal of eliminating all racial bias, prejudice, and discriminatory behavior, and to teach their children about the history of slavery and Jim Crow laws to ensure that these tragedies will be neither forgotten nor repeated. By making this joint resolution, the General Assembly wishes to promote reconciliation and healing, avert the repetition of past wrongs, and propagate the American and Delawarean ideals of life, liberty, justice, and happiness.

N/A

N/A

Takes effect upon being signed into law

N/A

View HTML View PDF