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“THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD AND THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING THE TRUTH ABOUT OUR HISTORY” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1248-E1249 on June 15, 2005.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD AND THE IMPORTANCE OF
KNOWING THE TRUTH ABOUT OUR HISTORY
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HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL
of new york
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the first racially integrated civil rights movement in this country: the Underground Railroad. I recognize the author of the first highly regarded and well researched book on this topic to be written in 100 years, Fergus M. Bordewich. In ``Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America,'' Fergus Bordewich has revealed the truth behind the myth of the Underground Railroad. I was privileged this evening to host with Senator Charles Schumer of New York a reception to recognize the contribution this new book is making to a greater awareness and understanding of the history of slavery and racial oppression in this Nation and of the heroic efforts of brave Americans to resist these evils.
The myth which generations of Americans have believed is that the Underground Railroad was a monochromatic narrative of high-minded whites assisting terrified helpless blacks to freedom. This myth disintegrates in the powerful true stories of the heroes of the Underground Railroad. The railroad was not a system of tracks. The railroad consisted of people along routes in rural areas and forested areas in cities and on plantations: people who for political and spiritual and religious reasons had one goal: to free human beings from slavery.
In ``Bound for Canaan,'' Mr. Bordewich delivers a powerful message in the gripping personal stories of the heroes who were the Underground Railroad, the slaves and the free. Mr. Bordewich writes in his introduction: ``Only recently have African Americans begun to be restored to their rightful place at the center of the story. But the Underground Railroad is no more `Black history than it is White history': it is American history, and it swept into its orbit courageous Americans of every hue. It was the country's first racially integrated civil rights movement in which whites and blacks worked together for six decades before the Civil War, taking great risks together, saving tens of thousands of lives together and ultimately succeeding together in one of the most ambitious political undertakings in American history.''
This political undertaking has not ended; it has continued. Blacks and whites worked together in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s; some paying the ultimate price to bring the freedom that had not yet been fully realized in the South because Blacks could not vote. On June 13, 2005, jury selection began in Philadelphia Mississippi in the Civil Rights case against Edgar Ray Killen for the slayings of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, three young civil rights workers, white and black, brutally killed in 1964. Together with thousands of others, Black and White, took great risks in the tradition of the people who were the Underground Railroad, ultimately bringing the vote to the descendants of the slaves the Underground Railroad saved. They are not forgotten. People of good will have kept their memories alive and their cause alive. The trial now is important because it reminds us of the high price of freedom and who has paid that price.
Emmett Till's case has been reopened and this reopening is important for the same reason. He was 14 years old in 1955 when on a visit to his relatives in Mississippi he was kidnapped from his uncle's house. When Emmett Till's body was found and returned to his mother in Chicago, it was so disfigured from beating and torture that his mother almost didn't recognize him. She refused offers from the funeral home to clean up his battered body. For his funeral, she insisted on an open casket. The two men tried for the murder were acquitted by a jury of 12 white men. However in a 1956 article in Look magazine, these two men confessed to Emmett Till's brutal murder. The article, pictures of Emmett Till and the confessions reenergized the Civil Rights movement. People all over America were outraged. Artistic works drawing on the incident included the first play by eventual Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, a poem by Langston Hughes and a song by Bob Dylan.
On May 10, 2004, the United States Department of Justice announced that it would reopen the case, an action that many had been calling for to determine if others had been involved in the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till. In October 2004, the Justice Department confirmed it was focused on two people who had not been charged in the original trial. On June 1, 2005, the body of Emmett Till was exhumed. Through the work of many people, Black and White, this child's killers may finally be brought to justice.
On June 13, 2005, the Senate apologized for refusing in the past to make lynching a federal crime. This was an important vote for the Senate to take. It shows that we as Americans can recognize and take responsibility for terrible mistakes of our past.
It also reminds us that the Underground Railroad was ``illegal'' and many who helped slaves to freedom broke the law. Slaves were property and were expected to be returned to their owners if discovered attempting to run away. The Fugitive Slave Act voted into Law on August 26, 1850 made anyone who hindered a slave catcher, attempted the rescue of a recaptured fugitive, directly or indirectly assisted a fugitive to escape, or harbored a fugitive, liable to a fine of up to one thousand dollars and six months' imprisonment, plus damages of one thousand dollars to the owner for each slave that was lost. Even with the enactment of the law, the Underground Railroad continued its work.
Now we know the crime was slavery. Just as we now recognize lynching was a heinous crime, we must come to see that the laws of the day contributed to the oppression of the Black race by the White majority.
The truth is always important no matter when we learn it. We thank Fergus M. Bordewich for his excellent history of the Underground Railroad.
Reviews of ``Bound for Canaan'' from The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Publishers Weekly, and other publications have given this book high praise.
John J. Miller of the Wall Street Journal wrote Fergus M. Bordewich
``has written an excellent book that is probably as close to a definitive history as we are likely to see.''
Cornell West, University Professor of Religion, Princeton University, and author of ``Race Matters'' wrote ``This is a masterful story--a deeply American story-- of the quest for freedom. This multi-racial movement is still a beacon of hope in our present dark times.`
For today, Mr. Speaker, it is important that we reflect on the importance of the racially integrated Civil Rights movement that began with the Underground Railroad and continues today. The men and women who challenged slavery, the policy of segregation, and the policies of racism should be commended for their deeds. They should have the full appreciation of this Nation. Mr. Fergus M. Bordewich deserves the thanks of this Nation for an important book on the history of the first racially integrated civil rights movement in this country.
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