Reps. Murphy, Accavitti, Anderson, Brown, Byrnes, Byrum, Cheeks, Condino, Espinoza, Gillard, Gonzales, Green, Hood, Hopgood, Kathleen Law, Leland, Lemmons, Jr., Lipsey, Mayes, Miller, Mortimer, Nofs, Pearce, Polidori, Sak, Schuitmaker, Shaffer, Alma Smith, Virgil Smith, Spade, Tobocman, Vagnozzi, Waters, Zelenko, Bieda, Clack, Farrah, Gleason, Lemmons, III and Proos offered the following resolution:

            House Resolution No. 172.

            A resolution to memorialize the United States Congress to establish a program to recognize historic African-American sites.

            Whereas, America is blessed to be a nation of ideals that people around the world aspire to join. We have a rich tapestry of religions, races, and nationalities that has contributed to our greatness and our freedoms; and

            Whereas, The history of African Americans in North America is a story with both terrible horrors and inspiring progress. We have witnessed slavery, emancipation, tentative steps to enjoy that freedom, a civil rights movement that inspired the entire nation to eradicate discrimination in our laws, and a growing integration of our society where African Americans have reached the upper levels of business and government. There are miles to go, but our society has already traveled far; and

            Whereas, This history should be a source of pride for our people. While those who live near historic sites are generally aware of the significance of their own piece of history, there should be a mechanism to recognize such sites in order to make Americans generally aware of the treasures from our past located across our nation. Just as Native American tribal reservations are a tool to preserve the history and culture of the first Americans, historic African-American sites would fulfill the same role for African Americans, whose journey to America followed a far different path than those of voluntary immigrants. The educational value of recognizing, cataloging, and advertising historic African-American sites will increase awareness of our cultural heritage and our past, allowing us to forge a better future. Such a designation as an historic African-American site would also be a useful economic development tool to attract visitors to the community where the site is located; and

            Whereas, In our own state, for example, we have the community of Idlewild in Lake County. From 1912 to the mid-1960s, this resort was a summer attraction for African American who were barred from other resorts due to official and unofficial segregation practices. Advances in integration and civil rights may have made such resorts a thing of the past, but it is a past we must remember and a past from which we may still learn much; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we memorialize the United States Congress to establish a program to recognize historic African-American sites; and be it further

            Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the members of the Michigan congressional delegation.