SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 87
WHEREAS, The Bullock Texas State History Museum is hosting
Reverberations of Memory, Violence, and History: A Conference
for the Centennial of the 1919 Canales Investigation; and
WHEREAS, Between 1910 and 1920, during a period of racial
conflict along the United States-Mexico border, the Texas
Rangers were dispatched to the region, but that resulted in
increased bloodshed; the Rangers engaged in violence and
heavy-handed discrimination against the Tejano civilian
population, and it is estimated that as many as 5,000 ethnic
Mexicans were killed by the Rangers between 1914 and 1919; and
WHEREAS, In January 1919, Texas State Representative José
T. Canales of Brownsville, the only state legislator of Hispanic
descent at the time, filed 19 charges of misconduct against the
Texas Rangers and demanded a legislative investigation into the
force's actions; after hearing two weeks of testimony, a joint
committee of the Texas house and senate issued a report
recommending a reorganization of the Rangers; legislation was
subsequently passed carrying out these reforms and also
establishing specific procedures for citizen complaints against
Ranger wrongdoing; and
WHEREAS, The centennial conference taking place in Austin
on January 31 and February 1, 2019, will offer an in-depth study
of the Canales Investigation and its broader impact and legacy;
the gathering will feature internationally recognized scholars
and researchers who will deliver different perspectives on the
history of extralegal violence in the United States and who will
explore the connections between the events of the 1910s and
contemporary developments related to border policing; and
WHEREAS, The 1919 Canales Investigation stands as a
pivotal episode that helped document racial injustice in the
United States, and all those associated with the Reverberations
of Memory, Violence, and History conference are to be commended
for raising awareness of the investigation and its many lasting
implications for our state and nation; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 86th
Legislature, hereby commemorate Reverberations of Memory,
Violence, and History: A Conference for the Centennial of the
1919 Canales Investigation and extend to the participants
sincere best wishes for a productive event.
RodrÃguez
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President of the Senate
I hereby certify that the
above Resolution was adopted by
the Senate on January 29, 2019.
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Secretary of the Senate
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Member, Texas Senate