On Monday, August 8, 2022, Congressman Al Green released the following statement:

“I am proud to share that on Saturday, August 6, 2022, the Texas Democratic Party announced their unanimous support for my H.Res.517 Original Slavery Remembrance Day and H.Res.919 Department of Reconciliation resolutions. The Texas Democratic Party also endorsed my resolution H.Res.920 Calling on the Senate to Remove the Name of Richard B. Russell from the Russell Senate Office Building during last month’s 2022 Texas Democratic Party Convention in Dallas.”

“By endorsing all three of my resolutions, the Texas Democratic Party has demonstrated their commitment to recognizing the role systemic racism has had on our nation’s history and the invidious discrimination that the Black community has been subjected to for centuries. As the State of Texas deals with attempts by some individuals to sanitize history, such as by describing slavery as ‘involuntary relocation,’ it is even more important for the Texas Democratic Party to take up the mantle on these important issues. I thank Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa, SDEC Committeewoman for Senate District 13 Toni Middleton Lewis, and all SDEC Committee members for backing my three resolutions and affirming these affairs are a top priority for Texans of goodwill.”

Congressman Al Green’s Original Slavery Remembrance Day Resolution passed the House on July 27, 2022, with a bipartisan vote of 218 – 207. The resolution calls for August 20 to be designated as Slavery Remembrance Day because on that day in 1619, the White Lion ship arrived at Point Comfort, near present-day Norfolk, Virginia, carrying the first enslaved Africans brought to the English-speaking American colonies. A National Day of Remembrance for slavery would annually remind us of the horrors of slavery, so such atrocities are never repeated.