The word "except" in the 13th Amendment doesn’t abolish slavery. 150 years later we have the same divisive issues our African ancestors faced as slavery still exists in today's for-profit prison system. We must address the wounds of the past because the election of Donald Trump could open the door to another Jim Crow period of racial hatred. For the sake of generations to come, this cannot happen.
We ask President Obama to issue an Executive Order to remove the word "except" from the 13th Amendment and begin the process of healing by accepting the National Declaration of Forgiveness on Behalf of Our African Ancestors. We also ask that it be archived in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History.
The forgiveness document can be found at OneVoiceAcrossAmerica.org