(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Friday signed a proclamation establishing the Springfield 1908 Race Riot Monument, located on the site of a deadly attack on a Black community by a white mob 116 years ago.
By establishing the monument, the White House said in a statement, the president is “recognizing the significance of these events and the broader history of Black community resilience in the face of violent oppression.”
Biden was joined by civil rights leaders, community members and elected officials in the Oval Office.
“What I’m excited about, beyond the specifics of this, we’re rewriting history,” Biden said. “So our children, our grandchildren – everybody understands what happened, and what can still happen.”
Just before signing the proclamation, he explained how “a mob not far from Lincoln’s home unleashed a race riot in Springfield.”
Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin elaborated on what he called the “national significance” of the attack’s ties to Abraham Lincoln.
“It was the connection with Lincoln that really drove home the point that racism has to end in America,” he said at the signing ceremony. “And we’re still fighting that battle now.”
The monument will protect 1.57 acres of federal land in Springfield, Illinois, and will include the foundations of five houses that were destroyed in the violence.
“I know this may not seem significant to you, to most Americans, but it’s important. It’s important, important, important,” Biden said.
The White House added that this incident was representative of the “racism, intimidation, and violence that Black Americans experienced across the country.”
Biden emphasized the need for generations of Americans to understand such history. “As a matter of fact something happened here similar, recently,” he said.
He also noted how the horrific attack “sparked the creation of the NAACP,” which he views as “one of the most important organizations” in America.
“I’m so proud that Springfield, Illinois, is home to the beginning of the NAACP,” Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth added. “Good things can come out of bad things, as long as you don’t forget what happened.”
Lawmakers have been calling on Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate the site as a national monument.
Although legislation had been introduced seeking to advance this goal, Duckworth explained how “it’s been stuck in the House.”
As a result, they believed executive action was the “best chance to protect this area and mark this part of our history.”
This effort marks the eighth addition to the national park system during the Biden-Harris administration.
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