SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 793
WHEREAS, In 2009, the Texas Legislature established the
Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission to further educate
Texans about the Holocaust and other genocides; the commission's
responsibilities include coordinating events in the State of
Texas that memorialize the Holocaust and other genocides; for
historical reasons, the Texas Senate has chosen April of 2011 to
be Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month; and
WHEREAS, Throughout history, numerous genocides
originated in April or stemmed from events that occurred in
April; as a result, many institutions around the world have
designated April to be a month of genocide awareness and
prevention; in April of 1933, the Nazis issued a decree that
prepared the way for the "Final Solution," in which they defined
non-Aryans as "anyone descended from non-Aryan, especially
Jewish, parents or grandparents. One parent or grandparent
classifies the descendant as non-Aryan . . . especially if one
parent or grandparent was of the Jewish faith"; and
WHEREAS, In April of 1975, the Khmer Rouge entered Phnom
Penh, the capital of Cambodia, and initiated wide-scale
massacres that turned cities into "killing fields"; these
massacres resulted in the death of two million people; in April
of 1992, the siege of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital
city, ultimately led to the deaths of more than 2,000 Bosnian
Serbs; and
WHEREAS, In April of 2003, the displacement of Darfurians
began in Sudan, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths and
the displacement of millions; in April of 1994, the Rwandan
President's airplane was shot down, leading to the slaying of
moderate leaders by Hutu hardliners, and, over the next three
months, 800,000 Tutsis were slaughtered; and
WHEREAS, In 2008, the Prevention of Genocide Task Force,
convened by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the
American Academy of Diplomacy, and the United States Institute of
Peace, issued a report stating that in order to stop future
genocides and mass atrocities, effective prevention measures
must be implemented before a crisis erupts; central to this
notion was the idea that educating the public serves to protect
individual rights and promotes a culture of lawfulness that can
help to prevent future genocides; and
WHEREAS, Genocide often begins with the stratification of
a community, in which one group is ostracized and dehumanized,
creating an intolerance that can lead to the mass murder of that
targeted group and their supporters; learning about past and
current genocides will raise the call to protect individual
rights and create recognition of the need for society to act when
presented with instances of hatred and intolerance; and
WHEREAS, The Senate has chosen the month of April to
emphasize the need to heighten public awareness of the early
stages of human behavior that spawn acts of genocide, the need to
build strong communities and prevent future genocides, and the
need on the state and national levels to continue to honor all who
have been victimized by genocide; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 82nd
Legislature, hereby declare the month of April, 2011, Genocide
Awareness and Prevention Month as a tribute to all whose lives
have been touched by genocide and as a reminder of the need for
the protection of human rights and for vigilance against the
forces of intolerance; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared in
recognition of Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month.
Shapiro
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President of the Senate
I hereby certify that the
above Resolution was adopted by
the Senate on April 18, 2011.
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Secretary of the Senate
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Member, Texas Senate