| 2 | 3 | | |
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| 3 | 4 | | |
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| 4 | 5 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
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| 5 | 6 | | WHEREAS, In his memoir Black Klansman, El Paso resident Ron |
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| 6 | 7 | | Stallworth delivers a riveting account of his experiences as an |
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| 7 | 8 | | African American police detective leading an undercover |
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| 8 | 9 | | investigation into the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s, and his book is |
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| 9 | 10 | | receiving renewed interest since being adapted into an Academy |
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| 10 | 11 | | Award-winning film by director Spike Lee; and |
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| 11 | 12 | | WHEREAS, Ron Stallworth was born in Chicago and moved to El |
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| 12 | 13 | | Paso when he was just four years old; initially, his family lived in |
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| 13 | 14 | | the heart of the city's small but proud African American community, |
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| 14 | 15 | | which had a long history of advocating for civil rights, including |
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| 15 | 16 | | challenging racist voting laws and successfully pushing for |
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| 16 | 17 | | desegregation in area schools; he later lived in neighborhoods that |
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| 17 | 18 | | were primarily made up of white and Hispanic residents, a situation |
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| 18 | 19 | | that forced him to negotiate a less familiar cultural landscape; |
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| 19 | 20 | | after graduating from Austin High School in 1971, he moved to |
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| 20 | 21 | | Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he joined a cadet program with |
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| 21 | 22 | | the city's police department; he was promoted to police officer and |
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| 22 | 23 | | then became the first black detective in the history of the agency; |
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| 23 | 24 | | and |
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| 24 | 25 | | WHEREAS, In the late 1970s, Detective Stallworth initiated a |
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| 25 | 26 | | seven-month undercover investigation in which he infiltrated the Ku |
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| 26 | 27 | | Klux Klan through phone conversations with local members and KKK |
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| 27 | 28 | | Grand Wizard David Duke; for face-to-face meetings with Klan |
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| 28 | 29 | | members, a white police officer posed as Mr. Stallworth; this |
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| 29 | 30 | | investigation successfully thwarted Klan activities, including |
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| 30 | 31 | | several cross burnings and a plan to bomb two gay bars in Denver; it |
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| 31 | 32 | | also revealed the presence of KKK members in the United States |
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| 32 | 33 | | military and the North American Aerospace Defense Command; and |
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| 33 | 34 | | WHEREAS, Shortly after the investigation ended, Detective |
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| 34 | 35 | | Stallworth left Colorado Springs, and he went on to work with law |
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| 35 | 36 | | enforcement agencies in Arizona, Wyoming, and Utah before retiring |
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| 36 | 37 | | and returning home to El Paso; in 2013, he penned Black Klansman to |
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| 37 | 38 | | chronicle the Colorado Springs investigation; and |
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| 38 | 39 | | WHEREAS, A revered law enforcement officer and an acclaimed |
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| 39 | 40 | | author, Ron Stallworth has distinguished himself through his |
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| 40 | 41 | | efforts to document and combat racism, and his achievements are a |
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| 41 | 42 | | source of great pride in El Paso and beyond; now, therefore, be it |
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| 42 | 43 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas |
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| 43 | 44 | | Legislature hereby congratulate Ron Stallworth on the success of |
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| 44 | 45 | | Black Klansman and honor him for his important work; and, be it |
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| 45 | 46 | | further |
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| 46 | 47 | | RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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| 47 | 48 | | prepared for Mr. Stallworth as an expression of high regard by the |
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| 48 | 49 | | Texas House of Representatives. |
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