H.R. No. 37

R E S O L U T I O N

WHEREAS, The Crystal City student walkout, during the winter

of 1969-1970, stands as one of the most successful Chicano boycotts

in the history of the Southwest; and

WHEREAS, Beginning in the spring of 1969, Chicano students at

Crystal City High School began to present school authorities and

the school board with a series of demands intended to redress a long

history of discriminatory practices against Chicano students; on

December 9, 1969, after the school board had repeatedly resisted

dealing with the majority of the students' grievances, a number of

Chicano students at the high school began a well-organized boycott

of their classes; led by Severita Lara, Mario Trevino, and Diana

Serna, the boycott grew daily and even spread to the junior high and

elementary schools; by the time the schools closed for the

Christmas holidays, between one-half and two-thirds of all the

students in the city's public schools were boycotting their

classes; and

WHEREAS, The student walkout in Crystal City served as a

galvanizing force in organizing the Chicano residents of that town

and the surrounding area; the influence of the boycott became

manifest not only in the fairer treatment that Chicano students

received in the schools of Crystal City but in the dramatic new

political power that Chicano citizens came to exercise in certain

communities of South Texas; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas

Legislature hereby commemorate the 43rd anniversary of the 1969

Crystal City student walkout and commend all who work to create a

more just and inclusive society in the Lone Star State.

Alonzo

______________________________ Speaker of the House

I certify that H.R. No. 37 was adopted by the House on February 24, 2011, by a non-record vote.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House