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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, In February of each year, Black History Month is |
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commemorated throughout the nation, and this special observance |
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helps focus public attention on the contributions that African |
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Americans have made to the past development and ongoing progress of |
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the United States of America; and |
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WHEREAS, The celebration in 2013 takes on further resonance |
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as it marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation |
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and the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington; and |
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WHEREAS, Those events stand as two of the best-known episodes |
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in the long history of African Americans' unrelenting quest for |
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full equality and inclusion; the Emancipation Proclamation, issued |
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by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, provided a hopeful |
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sign that the era of slavery might soon be over; before that point |
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in U.S. history, most blacks were not allowed to live as free men |
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and women, and yet they played an essential part in building the |
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nation into a land of prosperity and immense potential even as they |
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were denied the freedom and equality that were its highest ideals; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Freed of their shackles at the end of the Civil War, |
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black citizens applied themselves to new realms of endeavor; in |
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Texas, African Americans excelled in tasks that ranged from riding |
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herd on cattle to manning frontier outposts to serving as state |
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legislators; moreover, a people who just a few short years before |
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had been held in bondage enrolled in schools and colleges as they |
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sought a path to a better future and a means of coping with the |
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difficult challenges that surrounded them; and |
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WHEREAS, The obstacles of segregation, disenfranchisement, |
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and institutionalized discrimination would persist for nearly a |
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century after emancipation came to pass, but ultimately the |
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nation's black residents would come to know the truth of their |
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rallying cry, "we shall overcome"; one of the pivotal moments of |
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that struggle came a half-century ago in the March on Washington, |
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when 250,000 U.S. citizens converged on our nation's capital to |
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demand change; buoyed by the inspiring words of Dr. Martin Luther |
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King, Jr., the marchers helped carry forward a civil rights |
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movement that had been many decades in the making and that had |
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included important victories by black Texans; within two years of |
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the March on Washington, the passage of two landmark pieces of |
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legislation, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act |
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of 1965, helped the country to take a huge stride toward the goal of |
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truly offering liberty and justice for all; and |
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WHEREAS, The story of African Americans in America is |
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integral to the history of this country, and the substance of that |
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story, now nearly 400 years in the making, is indeed deserving of |
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remembrance and recognition; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas |
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Legislature hereby commemorate Black History Month in February 2013 |
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and pay tribute to the rich legacy of African Americans in the |
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United States. |