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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, State office buildings should be named after the |
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most laudable of citizens, but the namesake of the John H. Reagan |
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State Office Building was a secessionist who ardently promoted |
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white supremacy throughout his lifetime; and |
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WHEREAS, During the Confederacy, John H. Reagan served in the |
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cabinet of Jefferson Davis as postmaster general; he later won |
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election as a United States senator and as railroad commissioner of |
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Texas, and he used his stature to vigorously champion the myth of |
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the Lost Cause; a major voice for racist ideology even into the |
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early 20th century, he proposed legislation to prevent African |
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Americans from exercising their right to vote, helping to lay the |
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groundwork for generations of systematic disenfranchisement; and |
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WHEREAS, The building named after John H. Reagan currently |
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stands as an insult to communities that have suffered under his |
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legacy of oppression and to the millions of Texans who abhor his |
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discredited values; to make amends, the state would do well to honor |
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instead a woman of color who worked tirelessly to break down the |
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barriers he helped erect; and |
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WHEREAS, Kingsville native Irma Rangel, who attended a |
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segregated elementary school, became the first Mexican American |
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woman elected to the Texas Legislature in 1976; dedicated to higher |
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education and equity for minorities and the impoverished, she |
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secured passage of numerous bills that expanded access to |
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advancement, including the legislation that provided funding for |
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the first professional school in South Texas; in appreciation, |
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Texas A&M University-Kingsville named that school the Irma Rangel |
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College of Pharmacy; she ably chaired the House Higher Education |
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Committee from 1995 until 2003, the year she lost her battle with |
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brain cancer; and |
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WHEREAS, Irma Rangel embodied the highest ideals of the Lone |
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Star State through her unyielding commitment to equal rights and |
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opportunity for all Texans, and it would be fitting to remedy an |
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affront to those ideals by renaming the John H. Reagan Building in |
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her honor; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby direct the Texas Facilities Commission to rename the John H. |
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Reagan State Office Building the Irma Rangel State Office Building; |
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and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official |
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copy of this resolution to the chair and executive director of the |
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Texas Facilities Commission. |