THIRD READING 

Bill No: SR 74

Author: Bradford (D), et al.

Introduced: 1/30/20

Vote: Majority

SUBJECT: Black History Month

SOURCE: Author

DIGEST:

This resolution recognizes February 2020 as Black History Month, urges all citizens to join in celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans during Black History Month, and encourages the people of California to recognize the many talents of African Americans and the achievements and contributions they make to their communities to create equity and equality for education, economics, and social justice.

ANALYSIS: This resolution makes the following legislative findings:

1. In August 1619, the first documented Africans arrived in the English colony of Virginia. The group, recorded upon arrival as “20 and Odd Negroes,” was part of a larger group of West Africans enslaved by Portuguese slave traders. They were on their way to Veracruz aboard a Portuguese ship when they were captured off the coast of Mexico by an English warship and transported to Virginia, where they were put ashore at what is now Hampton, Virginia, and sold as involuntary laborers or indentured servants.
2. The historic arrival of the group of “20 and Odd Negroes” marked the beginning of the trend in colonial America where people of Africa were taken unwillingly from their homeland and transplanted to a foreign land, where they were condemned to a lifetime of slavery and racial discrimination.
3. During the course of the slave trade, an estimated 50 million African men, women, and children were lost to their native continent, though only about 15 million arrived safely to a new home. The others lost their lives on African soil or along the Guinea coast, or finally in holds on the ships during the dreaded Middle Passage across the Atlantic Ocean.
4. In spite of the African slave trade, Africans and African Americans continued to move forward in society.
5. From the earliest days of the United States, the course of its history has been greatly influenced by African American heroes and pioneers in many diverse areas, including science, medicine, business, education, government, industry, and social leadership.
6. This year, 2020, marks the sesquicentennial of the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) and 55 years since the passage of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.
7. Before the passage of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, voters faced disenfranchisement through poll taxes, literacy tests, and other tactics intended to keep African Americans from the polls on election day.
8. Despite over 50 years of progress, African Americans continue to face voter discrimination, voter suppression, and voting barriers in jurisdictions with a history of discrimination.
9. To build a stronger and more cohesive state and nation, we must continue to help advance the cause of voter equality and equal access to the political process for all people in order to protect the rights of every American.

This resolution:

1. Recognizes February 2020 as Black History Month, urges all citizens to join in celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans during Black History Month, and encourages the people of California to recognize the many talents of African Americans and the achievements and contributions they make to their communities to create equity and equality for education, economics, and social justice.
2. Recognizes the significance in protecting citizens’ right to vote and remedying racial discrimination in voting.

Related/Prior Legislation

SCR 12 (Bradford, Resolution Chapter 12, Statutes of 2019) recognized February 2019 as Black History Month.

ACR 19 (Weber, Resolution Chapter 15, Statutes of 2019) recognized February 2019 as Black History Month.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No

SUPPORT: (Verified 2/10/20)

None received

OPPOSITION: (Verified 2/10/20)

None received

Prepared by: Karen Chow / SFA / (916) 651-1520

2/13/20 15:17:27

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