1-1 1 1-2 SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 294 1-3 WHEREAS, The Texas Senate proudly joins citizens across the 1-4 country in recognizing February, 1999, as Black History Month; 1-5 and 1-6 WHEREAS, People from all over the world have settled in the 1-7 United States of America, bringing with them invaluable parts 1-8 of their own heritage and time-honored traditions; their 1-9 backgrounds and achievements have had a tremendous impact on 1-10 our country; and 1-11 WHEREAS, An extremely important basketball game was played 1-12 in 1966, which underscored the importance of the progress 1-13 against racism that we have made as a state and country since 1-14 that relatively recent time; and 1-15 WHEREAS, That year the Final Four battle was between the 1-16 University of Kentucky, the University of Utah, Duke University, 1-17 and Texas Western College; everyone in the country was familiar 1-18 with the first three teams, but not Texas Western College, as it 1-19 was the classic underdog; Kentucky had won four national 1-20 championships, Utah had won one, and Duke had been a runner-up; 1-21 and 1-22 WHEREAS, The first game was between Duke and Kentucky, with 1-23 the Kentucky Wildcats winning by 83-79, and Texas Western beat 1-24 Utah with a score of 85-78; everyone expected Kentucky to beat 2-1 Texas Western; the Texas Western Miners coach, Don Haskins, knew 2-2 that he was up against a team without much height, so he started 2-3 some of his shorter players for quicker play; he started his best 2-4 players, five African Americans; and 2-5 WHEREAS, This was the first instance of a team of black 2-6 players in a contest against a team of white players, and 2-7 Texas Western won 72-65; the National Collegiate Athletic 2-8 Association had a new championship team for 1966, and it was 2-9 a team of five starting African Americans; this was a historic 2-10 game for all sports; and 2-11 WHEREAS, This basketball game represented a cultural 2-12 watershed in American sports; after that point, African Americans 2-13 playing on American sports teams was commonplace, and widespread 2-14 recruiting of black players began soon afterward; and 2-15 WHEREAS, Our state and country have benefitted immeasurably 2-16 from the influence of talented black leaders and dedicated 2-17 black citizens who have inspired Americans of all races and 2-18 from all parts of the country to reaffirm their commitment to 2-19 equal justice and opportunity for all; now, therefore, be it 2-20 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 2-21 76th Legislature, hereby commend the winning coach and players 2-22 of the Texas Western College 1966 National Collegiate Athletic 2-23 Association Championship team and encourage all Texans to observe 2-24 Black History Month; and, be it further 2-25 RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared as an 2-26 expression of the highest regard and esteem of the Texas Senate. 3-1 Shapleigh, Ellis, West 3-2 ______________________________________ 3-3 President of the Senate 3-4 I hereby certify that the above 3-5 Resolution was adopted by the Senate 3-6 on February 25, 1999. 3-7 ______________________________________ 3-8 Secretary of the Senate 3-9 ______________________________________ 3-10 Member, Texas Senate 3-11 ______________________________________ 3-12 Member, Texas Senate 3-13 ______________________________________ 3-14 Member, Texas Senate