|
|
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 479
|
|
WHEREAS, BlacKkKlansman, an award-winning movie that most |
|
recently was honored with an Oscar, tells the story of an |
|
investigation into the Ku Klux Klan that was conducted by Ron |
|
Stallworth, a black police officer who was born and raised in El |
|
Paso, Texas; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Stallworth was hired as a police cadet in |
|
Colorado Springs and eventually promoted to police officer, and |
|
he became the first black detective in the history of the |
|
Colorado Springs Police Department; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, In 1979, he responded to a classified |
|
advertisement recruiting Klan members, and when he was asked to |
|
join the cause, his department agreed to begin an undercover |
|
investigation into Klan activities, during the course of which |
|
he established a relationship with national Klan leader David |
|
Duke; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The investigation, conducted over the phone by |
|
Mr. Stallworth and in person by a white detective posing as him, |
|
resulted in a curtailing of local Klan activities, such as |
|
cross-burnings; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Stallworth left Colorado Springs in 1980, and |
|
he was subsequently employed in law enforcement agencies in |
|
Arizona and Wyoming, and in Utah, where he worked at the |
|
Department of Public Safety on gang issues; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Stallworth moved back to El Paso after |
|
retiring, and in 2013, he wrote the book Black Klansman, which |
|
was informed in part by his conviction that while our country had |
|
made much progress in eradicating the influence of racism, there |
|
is still much work to be done; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Growing up in El Paso, Mr. Stallworth was part of |
|
a small but proud black community with a strong history of civil |
|
rights advocacy; El Paso and its citizens have for many years |
|
played a leading role in the dismantling of widespread practices |
|
of segregation, from the lawsuits that led to the ending of |
|
all-white primary elections to the desegregation of schools, |
|
colleges, public accommodations, and sports teams; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Despite these achievements, many people in El |
|
Paso still remember segregated public accommodations and a |
|
struggle for voting rights and for representation of Hispanics in |
|
elected and economic leadership positions; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, BlacKkKlansman is both an exceptional movie and a |
|
stirring reminder that our society must never stop progressing |
|
toward greater equality and understanding; Ron Stallworth |
|
exemplifies his El Paso roots and with his book and the film has |
|
told a compelling story of significant import; now, therefore, |
|
be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 86th |
|
Legislature, hereby commend Ron Stallworth for his efforts to |
|
advance the progress of and the conversation around civil |
|
rights and racial equality in our society and extend to him |
|
congratulations on the success of his book Black Klansman and |
|
its adaptation as a movie and on the widespread impact of |
|
its message. |
|
|
Rodríguez |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
________________________________ |
|
|
President of the Senate |
|
|
|
|
|
I hereby certify that the |
|
|
above Resolution was adopted by |
|
|
the Senate on March 26, 2019. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
________________________________ |
|
|
Secretary of the Senate |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
________________________________ |
|
|
Member, Texas Senate |