Georgia General Assembly

Memorializing the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot and recognizing September 22-25, 2006, as "Days of Remembrance"; and for other purposes.

WHEREAS, on September 22, 1906, after a summer of inflammatory newspaper headlines and articles depicting false and exaggerated black-on-white assaults, thousands of white men, including members of the state militia, attacked African Americans in downtown Atlanta; and

WHEREAS, the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot continued for four days, with attacks spreading beyond the downtown area and resulting in the massacre of at least 25 black men and women, numerous beatings, serious injuries, invasions and vandalizing of homes and businesses of African Americans, and creating widespread fear among the citizens of Atlanta; and

WHEREAS, the Atlanta Race Riot was widely covered in the national and international press; and

WHEREAS, these four days left a major and enduring stain on the history of Atlanta and Georgia and on the history of race relations in America; and

WHEREAS, the Atlanta Race Riot directly affected such prominent figures as W. E. B.
Du Bois, Walter White, and John Wesley Dobbs; and

WHEREAS, despite its historical, spiritual, and psychological effect on the people of Atlanta, the Atlanta Race Riot has been largely forgotten by many Americans; and

WHEREAS, the centennial of the Atlanta Race Riot offers an opportunity to reconsider the Atlanta Race Riot and its significance, thus contributing to improved human relations; and

WHEREAS, the Coalition to Remember the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot was organized in 2004 to create public awareness of the riot and its legacy, to facilitate open and ongoing dialogue among diverse communities, and to inspire positive systemic change in Atlanta's race relations; and

WHEREAS, the coalition was convened by the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site and Southern Truth and Reconciliation, Inc.; and

WHEREAS, among its activities, the Coalition will sponsor a symposium and other commemorative events upon the occasion of the actual centennial of the Atlanta Race Riot in September, 2006.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body express their deepest sympathy and most solemn regrets to the descendants of the victims of the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot, declare September 22-25, 2006, to be "Days of Remembrance" to memorialize those who died as victims of the Atlanta Race Riot, repudiate the racist practices and rhetoric which contributed to the riot, and remember this painful history to ensure that such a tragedy will be neither forgotten nor repeated.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed to transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to the Coalition to Remember the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot.