Senate Passes Bipartisan Resolutions Formally Honoring Black History Month

Black History Month traces back 99 years to 1926, when historian Carter G. Woodson launched "Negro History Week" — Congress made it a full month in 1976

S.Res. 615 passed the Senate unanimously in the 119th Congress — continuing a bipartisan tradition led by Senators Tim Scott and Cory Booker

47.2 million people in the U.S. identified as Black alone or in combination in 2023 — roughly 14% of the total U.S. population

Households with a White, non-Hispanic householder held 10 times more wealth than those with a Black householder in 2021

The racial gap in median household income between Black and white Americans expanded between 2022 and 2023, according to a 2025 analysis of Census data