Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SR479 Compare Versions

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1	1	SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 479
2	2	WHEREAS, BlacKkKlansman, an award-winning movie that most
3	3	recently was honored with an Oscar, tells the story of an
4	4	investigation into the Ku Klux Klan that was conducted by Ron
5	5	Stallworth, a black police officer who was born and raised in El
6	6	Paso, Texas; and
7	7	WHEREAS, Mr. Stallworth was hired as a police cadet in
8	8	Colorado Springs and eventually promoted to police officer, and
9	9	he became the first black detective in the history of the
10	10	Colorado Springs Police Department; and
11	11	WHEREAS, In 1979, he responded to a classified
12	12	advertisement recruiting Klan members, and when he was asked to
13	13	join the cause, his department agreed to begin an undercover
14	14	investigation into Klan activities, during the course of which
15	15	he established a relationship with national Klan leader David
16	16	Duke; and
17	17	WHEREAS, The investigation, conducted over the phone by
18	18	Mr. Stallworth and in person by a white detective posing as him,
19	19	resulted in a curtailing of local Klan activities, such as
20	20	cross-burnings; and
21	21	WHEREAS, Mr. Stallworth left Colorado Springs in 1980, and
22	22	he was subsequently employed in law enforcement agencies in
23	23	Arizona and Wyoming, and in Utah, where he worked at the
24	24	Department of Public Safety on gang issues; and
25	25	WHEREAS, Mr. Stallworth moved back to El Paso after
26	26	retiring, and in 2013, he wrote the book Black Klansman, which
27	27	was informed in part by his conviction that while our country had
28	28	made much progress in eradicating the influence of racism, there
29	29	is still much work to be done; and
30	30	WHEREAS, Growing up in El Paso, Mr. Stallworth was part of
31	31	a small but proud black community with a strong history of civil
32	32	rights advocacy; El Paso and its citizens have for many years
33	33	played a leading role in the dismantling of widespread practices
34	34	of segregation, from the lawsuits that led to the ending of
35	35	all-white primary elections to the desegregation of schools,
36	36	colleges, public accommodations, and sports teams; and
37	37	WHEREAS, Despite these achievements, many people in El
38	38	Paso still remember segregated public accommodations and a
39	39	struggle for voting rights and for representation of Hispanics in
40	40	elected and economic leadership positions; and
41	41	WHEREAS, BlacKkKlansman is both an exceptional movie and a
42	42	stirring reminder that our society must never stop progressing
43	43	toward greater equality and understanding; Ron Stallworth
44	44	exemplifies his El Paso roots and with his book and the film has
45	45	told a compelling story of significant import; now, therefore,
46	46	be it
47	47	RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 86th
48	48	Legislature, hereby commend Ron Stallworth for his efforts to
49	49	advance the progress of and the conversation around civil
50	50	rights and racial equality in our society and extend to him
51	51	congratulations on the success of his book Black Klansman and
52	52	its adaptation as a movie and on the widespread impact of
53	53	its message.
54	54	Rodríguez
55	55	________________________________
56	56	President of the Senate
57	57	I hereby certify that the
58	58	above Resolution was adopted by
59	59	the Senate on March 26, 2019.
60	60	________________________________
61	61	Secretary of the Senate
62	62	________________________________
63	63	Member, Texas Senate