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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, The Crystal City student walkout, during the winter |
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of 1969-1970, stands as one of the most successful Chicano boycotts |
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in the history of the Southwest; and |
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WHEREAS, Beginning in the spring of 1969, Chicano students at |
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Crystal City High School began to present school authorities and |
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the school board with a series of demands intended to redress a long |
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history of discriminatory practices against Chicano students; on |
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December 9, 1969, after the school board had repeatedly resisted |
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dealing with the majority of the students' grievances, a number of |
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Chicano students at the high school began a well-organized boycott |
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of their classes; led by Severita Lara, Mario Trevino, and Diana |
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Serna, the boycott grew daily and even spread to the junior high and |
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elementary schools; by the time the schools closed for the |
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Christmas holidays, between one-half and two-thirds of all the |
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students in the city's public schools were boycotting their |
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classes; and |
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WHEREAS, The student walkout in Crystal City served as a |
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galvanizing force in organizing the Chicano residents of that town |
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and the surrounding area; the influence of the boycott became |
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manifest not only in the fairer treatment that Chicano students |
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received in the schools of Crystal City but in the dramatic new |
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political power that Chicano citizens came to exercise in certain |
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communities of South Texas; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas |
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Legislature hereby commemorate the 49th anniversary of the 1969 |
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Crystal City student walkout and commend all who work to create a |
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more just and inclusive society in the Lone Star State. |