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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, January 28, 2021, was the 104th anniversary of the |
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famous "Bath House Riots" in El Paso, when Carmelita Torres and |
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other Latinas bravely resisted inhumane and brutal treatment from |
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U.S. border authorities; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1917, all Mexicans crossing the border between |
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Ciudad Juárez and El Paso along the Santa Fe Bridge were required to |
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pass through a federal "delousing" facility; men and women were |
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separated into different buildings, with children accompanying the |
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women, and then required to strip naked and submit to inspection by |
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federal agents, while their clothing and valuables were steamed or |
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treated with cyanide gas; and |
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WHEREAS, If a man was found with lice, his head was shaved and |
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the clippings burned, and if a woman was found with lice, her hair |
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was doused with kerosene and vinegar, after which she was required |
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to wait half an hour for a secondary inspection while wearing only a |
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towel; if lice were found again, the process was repeated; after |
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this, everyone was sprayed with a toxic mixture of gasoline and |
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soap, and, once dressed, vaccinated and presented with proof of the |
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process in the form of a certificate that was valid for only one |
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week; and |
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WHEREAS, On the morning of January 28, 1917, a 17-year-old |
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Mexican woman named Carmelita Torres was crossing the border on her |
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way to her job as a maid in El Paso when the trolley conductor |
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ordered her to leave the trolley and enter the "bath house"; she |
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refused and quickly rallied the other women on the trolley, who were |
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also domestic workers, to refuse as well; and |
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WHEREAS, Soon a crowd of around 200 women were actively |
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resisting this humiliating and racist process, some of them |
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throwing rocks and bottles and injuring several trolley operators; |
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as the crowd grew, many of the women placed themselves on the tracks |
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to keep the trolley cars from moving, while others removed the |
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operators from the cabins and destroyed the trolley controls; a |
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number of the women were arrested, including Ms. Torres; and |
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WHEREAS, The incident shut down the border for two days, but |
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unfortunately the protest did not stop the fumigations, which |
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became even worse; starting in the 1920s, officials in El Paso began |
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dousing Mexicans crossing the border in Zyklon B, the cyanide-based |
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pesticide that was later used in the gas chambers of Nazi |
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extermination camps during the Holocaust; the demeaning |
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fumigations continued for another 40 years, until the 1960s; and |
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WHEREAS, Following the protest of 1917, Carmelita Torres is |
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lost to history, but she and the other women who spontaneously stood |
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up for themselves that January will forever be remembered for their |
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courage, their determination, and their insistence upon their |
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essential human right to be treated with dignity and respect; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 87th Texas |
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Legislature hereby commemorate the 104th anniversary of the Bath |
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House Riots of 1917 and pay tribute to the heroism of Carmelita |
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Torres. |