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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, In 2015, people across the nation are pausing to |
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reflect on the 50th anniversary of the historic civil rights march |
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from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, as well as the momentous changes |
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set in motion by that protest; and |
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WHEREAS, The march grew out of efforts to fight unjust voting |
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practices in the Jim Crow South, where African Americans were |
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routinely denied their right to cast a ballot; in Dallas County, |
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Alabama, members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee |
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and the Dallas County Voters League banded together to organize a |
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series of voter registration drives in the early 1960s; the state's |
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systemic discrimination proved intractable, however, even after |
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ratification of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and |
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WHEREAS, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other members of the |
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Southern Christian Leadership Conference arrived in Selma in early |
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1965 to help draw attention to the situation; racial tensions |
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flared on the fateful night of February 18, when segregationists |
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attacked peaceful demonstrators in the town of Marion, and a white |
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state trooper fatally shot Jimmie Lee Jackson, one of the African |
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American protestors; and |
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WHEREAS, Galvanized by that tragic killing, some 600 |
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activists congregated at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in |
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Selma on March 7, 1965, to participate in a 54-mile protest march to |
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Montgomery, the state capital; blocking their path was a regiment |
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of state troopers and deputies, and when the demonstrators |
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attempted to cross the bridge, they were lashed with whips, |
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bludgeoned with billy clubs, and pelted with tear gas; the horrific |
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scene, dubbed "Bloody Sunday," unfolded on televisions across the |
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country, sparking nationwide outrage and motivating thousands of |
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people to descend on the town in solidarity with the marchers; and |
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WHEREAS, In defiance of a restraining order from a federal |
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court, Dr. King issued a clarion call for another march, which was |
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scheduled for two days later; it was met once again with armed |
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resistance, but in this instance, the marchers turned around at the |
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bridge, avoiding more violence; finally, on March 21, approximately |
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2,000 people from all walks of life gathered to complete the |
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long-awaited journey to Montgomery; backed by a ruling from a |
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federal court and protected by army and national guard troops, they |
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arrived in the capital four days later and were met by a crowd of |
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nearly 50,000 supporters; and |
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WHEREAS, Those volatile weeks brought to the fore the need |
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for federal legislative action, and while the events in Selma were |
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unfolding, President Lyndon B. Johnson addressed a joint session of |
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Congress, calling for the passage of a voting rights bill; on August |
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6, he signed into law the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which |
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prohibited racial discrimination in voting practices by federal, |
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state, and local governments; the effects of the law were |
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immediate, producing a meteoric rise in the number of registered |
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African American voters and fundamentally changing their role in |
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the political process; and |
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WHEREAS, The Selma to Montgomery March was a watershed moment |
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in the civil rights movement, powerfully symbolizing how peace and |
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unity can overcome the forces of violence and intolerance; in |
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precipitating the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, the |
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demonstration helped give voice to millions of people long silenced |
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by an oppressive and unjust system, and it ensured that those rights |
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would be guaranteed to future generations; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas |
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Legislature hereby commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Selma to |
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Montgomery March and the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. |