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| 4 | 5 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
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| 5 | 6 | | WHEREAS, The League of United Latin American Citizens is |
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| 6 | 7 | | celebrating the 90th anniversary of its founding from February 17 |
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| 7 | 8 | | to 23, 2019; and |
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| 8 | 9 | | WHEREAS, Established in Corpus Christi in 1929, LULAC drew |
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| 9 | 10 | | strength from the rise of the Texas-Mexican middle class and the |
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| 10 | 11 | | growing resistance to discrimination; it became the first |
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| 11 | 12 | | nationwide Mexican American civil rights organization, striving to |
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| 12 | 13 | | end political disenfranchisement, racial segregation, lack of |
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| 13 | 14 | | political representation, and jury exclusion; a multi-issue |
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| 14 | 15 | | organization from its inception, it also sought to address the |
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| 15 | 16 | | roots of poverty and promote economic progress; and |
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| 16 | 17 | | WHEREAS, LULAC organized poll tax drives and fought to |
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| 17 | 18 | | abolish these antidemocratic taxes; in the 1930s, it investigated |
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| 18 | 19 | | charges of discrimination by the Works Progress Administration, and |
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| 19 | 20 | | it later worked with the Federal Employment Practices Commission to |
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| 20 | 21 | | open up jobs for Mexican Americans in the defense industry; members |
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| 21 | 22 | | were engaged in Hernandez v. State of Texas, which secured for |
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| 22 | 23 | | Mexican Americans the right to serve on juries; moreover, they |
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| 23 | 24 | | fought for the appointment of Mexican Americans to important |
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| 24 | 25 | | federal and state positions and supported candidates for public |
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| 25 | 26 | | office; and |
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| 26 | 27 | | WHEREAS, Deeply committed to school desegregation, LULAC was |
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| 27 | 28 | | engaged in such pivotal court cases as Delgado v. Bastrop ISD, which |
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| 28 | 29 | | ended segregation in public schools; from its early years, the |
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| 29 | 30 | | organization promoted education by awarding scholarships, and in |
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| 30 | 31 | | 1974, it created a national scholarship fund, as well as the LULAC |
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| 31 | 32 | | National Educational Service Centers; members also participated in |
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| 32 | 33 | | a 1990 case seeking the allocation of a greater share of state funds |
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| 33 | 34 | | to South Texas colleges; along the way, LULAC played a role in the |
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| 34 | 35 | | formation of a number of important organizations, among them the |
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| 35 | 36 | | Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund; and |
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| 36 | 37 | | WHEREAS, In recent years, LULAC has continued its efforts to |
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| 37 | 38 | | protect the civil rights of Latinos while expanding opportunities |
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| 38 | 39 | | in education, employment, economic advancement, and political |
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| 39 | 40 | | influence; its comprehensive suite of nationwide programs support |
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| 40 | 41 | | such worthy causes as affordable housing, health care access, |
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| 41 | 42 | | citizenship, and humanitarian relief; and |
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| 42 | 43 | | WHEREAS, Over the course of nine decades, LULAC has helped to |
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| 43 | 44 | | build a more just, equitable, and vibrant society, and its |
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| 44 | 45 | | contributions have improved the lives of countless Americans; now, |
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| 45 | 46 | | therefore, be it |
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| 46 | 47 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas |
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| 47 | 48 | | Legislature hereby recognize February 17 to 23, 2019, as National |
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| 48 | 49 | | LULAC Week and extend to the members of the organization sincere |
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| 49 | 50 | | best wishes for the future. |
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