HLS 18RS-1779 ORIGINAL
2018 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 52
BY REPRESENTATIVE RICHARD
COMMENDATIONS: Commends John DeSantis for his authorship of The Thibodaux
Massacre: Racial Violence and the 1887 Sugar Cane Labor Strike
1 A RESOLUTION
2To commend John DeSantis for his authorship of The Thibodaux Massacre: Racial Violence
3 and the 1887 Sugar Cane Labor Strike.
4 WHEREAS, historical and archival records confirm that on November 23, 1887, no
5fewer than eight African American residents of Louisiana were murdered in the city of
6Thibodaux in Lafourche Parish, and reviews of these records indicate that the killings
7occurred following a strike of sugar cane laborers that began on November 1, 1887; and
8 WHEREAS, John DeSantis, senior staff writer at the Times of Houma newspaper,
9who has covered social justice and race relations in New York, Louisiana, Mississippi,
10Florida, North Carolina, and California, undertook an extensive research project into the
111887 strike and authored a book as a result of his research; and
12 WHEREAS, a native of Jackson Heights, New York, Mr. DeSantis was a reporter
13in the 1970s and 1980s for leading wire services who specialized in reporting on homicides
14in New York; he also covered the courts in Brooklyn for United Press International; his first
15book, For the Color of His Skin: The Murder of Yusuf Hawkins and the Trial of Bensonhurst,
16set the course of his journalistic career; and
17 WHEREAS, John DeSantis has received awards from the Louisiana Press
18Association and the Associated Press Managing Editors Association, and his articles have
19been published in the New York Times and Washington Post newspapers; and
20 WHEREAS, Mr. DeSantis compiled information over ten years of research to pen
21The Thibodaux Massacre; his book shares never-before published facts on the brutal tragedy
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HR NO. 52
1in the labor and racial history of Louisiana and the nation, and it continues his life's work of
2bringing social and criminal justice issues to the forefront of the consciousness of America.
3 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
4Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend John DeSantis for his authorship of The
5Thibodaux Massacre: Racial Violence and the 1887 Sugar Cane Labor Strike and does
6hereby express enduring gratitude for his quest to expose injustice wherever and whenever
7it occurs.
8 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
9to John DeSantis.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 52 Original 2018 Regular Session Richard
Commends John DeSantis for his authorship of The Thibodaux Massacre: Racial Violence
and the 1887 Sugar Cane Labor Strike.
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