SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 87

WHEREAS, The Bullock Texas State History Museum is hosting Reverberations of Memory, Violence, and History: A Conference for the Centennial of the 1919 Canales Investigation; and

WHEREAS, Between 1910 and 1920, during a period of racial conflict along the United States-Mexico border, the Texas Rangers were dispatched to the region, but that resulted in increased bloodshed; the Rangers engaged in violence and heavy-handed discrimination against the Tejano civilian population, and it is estimated that as many as 5,000 ethnic Mexicans were killed by the Rangers between 1914 and 1919; and

WHEREAS, In January 1919, Texas State Representative José T. Canales of Brownsville, the only state legislator of Hispanic descent at the time, filed 19 charges of misconduct against the Texas Rangers and demanded a legislative investigation into the force's actions; after hearing two weeks of testimony, a joint committee of the Texas house and senate issued a report recommending a reorganization of the Rangers; legislation was subsequently passed carrying out these reforms and also establishing specific procedures for citizen complaints against Ranger wrongdoing; and

WHEREAS, The centennial conference taking place in Austin on January 31 and February 1, 2019, will offer an in-depth study of the Canales Investigation and its broader impact and legacy; the gathering will feature internationally recognized scholars and researchers who will deliver different perspectives on the history of extralegal violence in the United States and who will explore the connections between the events of the 1910s and contemporary developments related to border policing; and

WHEREAS, The 1919 Canales Investigation stands as a pivotal episode that helped document racial injustice in the United States, and all those associated with the Reverberations of Memory, Violence, and History conference are to be commended for raising awareness of the investigation and its many lasting implications for our state and nation; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 86th Legislature, hereby commemorate Reverberations of Memory, Violence, and History: A Conference for the Centennial of the 1919 Canales Investigation and extend to the participants sincere best wishes for a productive event. Rodríguez

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President of the Senate

I hereby certify that the above Resolution was adopted by the Senate on January 29, 2019.

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Secretary of the Senate

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Member, Texas Senate