84R8319 RMA-D
By: Reynolds H.R. No. 647
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, In 2015, people across the nation are pausing to
reflect on the 50th anniversary of the historic civil rights march
from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, as well as the momentous changes
set in motion by that protest; and
WHEREAS, The march grew out of efforts to fight unjust voting
practices in the Jim Crow South, where African Americans were
routinely denied their right to cast a ballot; in Dallas County,
Alabama, members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
and the Dallas County Voters League banded together to organize a
series of voter registration drives in the early 1960s; the state's
systemic discrimination proved intractable, however, even after
ratification of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other members of the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference arrived in Selma in early
1965 to help draw attention to the situation; racial tensions
flared on the fateful night of February 18, when segregationists
attacked peaceful demonstrators in the town of Marion, and a white
state trooper fatally shot Jimmie Lee Jackson, one of the African
American protestors; and
WHEREAS, Galvanized by that tragic killing, some 600
activists congregated at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in
Selma on March 7, 1965, to participate in a 54-mile protest march to
Montgomery, the state capital; blocking their path was a regiment
of state troopers and deputies, and when the demonstrators
attempted to cross the bridge, they were lashed with whips,
bludgeoned with billy clubs, and pelted with tear gas; the horrific
scene, dubbed "Bloody Sunday," unfolded on televisions across the
country, sparking nationwide outrage and motivating thousands of
people to descend on the town in solidarity with the marchers; and
WHEREAS, In defiance of a restraining order from a federal
court, Dr. King issued a clarion call for another march, which was
scheduled for two days later; it was met once again with armed
resistance, but in this instance, the marchers turned around at the
bridge, avoiding more violence; finally, on March 21, approximately
2,000 people from all walks of life gathered to complete the
long-awaited journey to Montgomery; backed by a ruling from a
federal court and protected by army and national guard troops, they
arrived in the capital four days later and were met by a crowd of
nearly 50,000 supporters; and
WHEREAS, Those volatile weeks brought to the fore the need
for federal legislative action, and while the events in Selma were
unfolding, President Lyndon B. Johnson addressed a joint session of
Congress, calling for the passage of a voting rights bill; on August
6, he signed into law the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which
prohibited racial discrimination in voting practices by federal,
state, and local governments; the effects of the law were
immediate, producing a meteoric rise in the number of registered
African American voters and fundamentally changing their role in
the political process; and
WHEREAS, The Selma to Montgomery March was a watershed moment
in the civil rights movement, powerfully symbolizing how peace and
unity can overcome the forces of violence and intolerance; in
precipitating the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, the
demonstration helped give voice to millions of people long silenced
by an oppressive and unjust system, and it ensured that those rights
would be guaranteed to future generations; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas
Legislature hereby commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Selma to
Montgomery March and the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.