| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, The belief in justice for all is foundational to our |
|
|
democracy, yet more than 400 years after Africans were first |
|
|
brought to these shores in chains, Black Americans continue to |
|
|
struggle for full protection under the law and recognition as full |
|
|
human beings; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, For nearly 250 years, Black Americans were enslaved; |
|
|
the passage of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1868 |
|
|
granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to all, but |
|
|
oppression persisted under Jim Crow laws; in the 1890s, journalist |
|
|
and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells decried the horrors of |
|
|
lynching and the failure of the nation "to put a stop to this |
|
|
wholesale slaughter"; almost 130 years after her call to action, |
|
|
Black men, women, and children are still denied the right to live |
|
|
safely and free from harm in their homes and communities, and the |
|
|
youngest African Americans are growing up as witnesses to a level of |
|
|
barbarous cruelty that Ida B. Wells would find all too familiar; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, In contemporary America, the ease of video recording |
|
|
has allowed ordinary citizens to document incident after incident |
|
|
of horrific, often lethal violence against Black Americans; as a |
|
|
result, public awareness of this brutality has grown, but attempts |
|
|
to seek justice in these cases have exposed the deep, unhealed |
|
|
wounds of systemic racism and left many to ask if Black lives will |
|
|
ever matter in our state and in America; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated |
|
|
long-standing and persistent inequities in health, education, and |
|
|
economic security, while continual hate-fueled actions underscore |
|
|
the destructive impact of systemic racism and bigotry; the culture |
|
|
that enables white nationalism and white supremacy foments violence |
|
|
not only against African Americans, but also other people of color |
|
|
and vulnerable communities; a rise in anti-Asian rhetoric, in |
|
|
particular, has caused racist extremists to increasingly target |
|
|
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The evils of oppression have taken a costly toll on |
|
|
our state and nation, and justice and liberty are but empty promises |
|
|
in a perpetual climate of hate and racial animus; although we |
|
|
cannot legislate away racism, we can help expose it to the light; we |
|
|
can adopt anti-racist policies and renew our commitment to end |
|
|
systemic racism, eliminate discrimination, and ensure fair and |
|
|
equitable treatment of people of color and members of other |
|
|
marginalized communities; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Silence and inaction allow racism, bigotry, and |
|
|
violence to fester at all levels of society, and by declaring that |
|
|
"Black Lives Matter," we reinforce our understanding that every |
|
|
American, no matter their race, religion, gender, language, |
|
|
national origin, or sexual orientation, deserves protection from |
|
|
inequities in health, education, and economic opportunity, and we |
|
|
reaffirm that the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of |
|
|
happiness belongs to each of us; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 87th Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby express its support for the efforts of the Black |
|
|
Lives Matter movement. |