| 1 | 1 | | 87R13356 BHH-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: White H.C.R. No. 91 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | CONCURRENT RESOLUTION |
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| 6 | 6 | | WHEREAS, Members of the Texas Geographic Names Committee and |
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| 7 | 7 | | the U.S. Board on Geographic Names have issued a report which shows |
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| 8 | 8 | | that there are at least 28 geographic features in Texas with |
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| 9 | 9 | | racially offensive names; and |
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| 10 | 10 | | WHEREAS, In 1991, the Texas Legislature passed H.B. 1756, |
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| 11 | 11 | | relating to the elimination of certain racially offensive names of |
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| 12 | 12 | | geographic features; the act requires the renaming of any |
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| 13 | 13 | | geographic feature with a name containing the word "Negro," yet in |
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| 14 | 14 | | the 30 years since the law was passed, 17 of the 19 place names |
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| 15 | 15 | | detailed in the act remain unchanged; and |
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| 16 | 16 | | WHEREAS, Changes to place names require the approval of the |
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| 17 | 17 | | U.S. Board on Geographic Names, which in 1998 rejected the names |
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| 18 | 18 | | proposed by H.B. 1756; however, the names were submitted for |
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| 19 | 19 | | reconsideration at a recent meeting of the USBGN and will be |
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| 20 | 20 | | considered for validation and acceptance no later than June 2021; |
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| 21 | 21 | | and |
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| 22 | 22 | | WHEREAS, In addition to those currently under |
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| 23 | 23 | | reconsideration, the USBGN has identified 11 other place names in |
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| 24 | 24 | | Texas containing the slur, in contravention of Section 3 of H.B. |
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| 25 | 25 | | 1756; there are currently no proposals to change these names, and |
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| 26 | 26 | | the board's protocol requires a formal proposal be submitted in |
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| 27 | 27 | | order to consider any changes; the board encourages Texas to seek |
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| 28 | 28 | | proponents to submit a proposal for each of these names; and |
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| 29 | 29 | | WHEREAS, The perpetuation of racially offensive language is a |
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| 30 | 30 | | stain on the Lone Star State, and it is vital that the names of these |
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| 31 | 31 | | geographic features be changed in order to reflect and honor the |
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| 32 | 32 | | diversity of the population; now, therefore, be it |
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| 33 | 33 | | RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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| 34 | 34 | | hereby urge the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to approve requests |
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| 35 | 35 | | to change racially offensive place names in accordance with Texas |
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| 36 | 36 | | H.B. 1756. |
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