Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HR124 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	H.R. No. 124
2	2
3	3
4	4	R E S O L U T I O N
5	5	WHEREAS, The 75th anniversary of Texas Southern University
6	6	provides a fitting opportunity to celebrate the legacy of educator
7	7	and civil rights activist Heman Marion Sweatt, whose fight to be
8	8	admitted to law school led to the establishment of TSU in 1947; and
9	9	WHEREAS, Born in Houston on December 11, 1912, Heman Sweatt
10	10	received his bachelor's degree from Wiley College in Marshall and
11	11	later attended the University of Michigan; after pursuing several
12	12	occupations, he took a job as a mail clerk in Houston and became the
13	13	local secretary of the National Alliance of Postal Employees; his
14	14	efforts to oppose the discriminatory practices of the post office,
15	15	where Blacks were systematically excluded from holding supervisory
16	16	positions, inspired his interest in studying law, but at the time,
17	17	there were no law schools in the state that admitted African
18	18	Americans; heeding the advice of civil rights activist and attorney
19	19	William J. Durham, he decided to apply to The University of Texas
20	20	School of Law and agreed to serve as the plaintiff in a lawsuit if
21	21	his admission was denied on the basis of race; and
22	22	WHEREAS, In February 1946, Mr. Sweatt and members of the
23	23	NAACP met with T. S. Painter, the president of The University of
24	24	Texas at Austin, to formally request admission to the law school;
25	25	despite Mr. Sweatt's qualifications, he was denied entrance when
26	26	the Texas attorney general upheld the state's policy of racial
27	27	segregation; in May of that year, Mr. Sweatt filed suit against
28	28	Painter and other officials, and in an initial ruling, the
29	29	presiding judge gave the state six months to offer an equal course
30	30	of legal instruction for African Americans; and
31	31	WHEREAS, That ruling prompted the Texas Legislature to pass a
32	32	bill in 1947 that provided for the establishment of four law schools
33	33	for Black students; it was decided that the Houston College for
34	34	Negroes, located in the city's Third Ward neighborhood, would be
35	35	the site of one of the new schools; the institution was acquired by
36	36	the State of Texas and initially renamed the Texas State University
37	37	for Negroes; it opened in September 1947 with an enrollment of 2,300
38	38	students and offered vocational, pharmacy, and arts and sciences
39	39	coursework in addition to law studies; its name was changed to Texas
40	40	Southern University in 1951, and TSU has steadily expanded its
41	41	educational mission through the decades; and
42	42	WHEREAS, Heman Sweatt's pursuit of equality did not end with
43	43	the establishment of TSU; he continued his legal efforts to gain
44	44	admission to the UT School of Law, and in June 1950, the
45	45	U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Sweatt v. Painter that Black law
46	46	students were not offered substantial quality in educational
47	47	opportunities; as a result, Mr. Sweatt and five other African
48	48	American students registered to attend UT in September 1950, ending
49	49	the era of segregation at the law school; during his long struggle
50	50	for justice, he and his family had endured threats of violence, and
51	51	he faced further hostility after enrolling; the stress took a
52	52	physical and emotional toll that affected his studies, and in the
53	53	summer of 1952, he left law school and returned to Houston; and
54	54	WHEREAS, Mr. Sweatt went on to earn a master's degree from
55	55	the Atlanta University Graduate School of Social Work in 1954, and
56	56	he was subsequently employed by the NAACP and the National Urban
57	57	League and taught at Atlanta University; his involvement in civil
58	58	rights issues included working on voter registration drives and
59	59	establishing programs for southern Blacks migrating to northern
60	60	states; he passed away on October 3, 1982, at the age of 69; and
61	61	WHEREAS, Heman Sweatt's determined efforts to fight racial
62	62	injustice led to the establishment of TSU and helped secure more
63	63	equitable educational opportunities for Black students, and his
64	64	extraordinary contributions will continue to resonate long into the
65	65	future; now, therefore, be it
66	66	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas
67	67	Legislature hereby honor Heman Marion Sweatt on the occasion of the
68	68	75th anniversary of Texas Southern University and pay tribute to
69	69	the life and legacy of this civil rights pioneer.
70	70	Dutton
71	71	______________________________
72	72	Speaker of the House
73	73	I certify that H.R. No. 124 was adopted by the House on March
74	74	8, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 140, Nays 0, 2 present, not
75	75	voting.
76	76	______________________________
77	77	Chief Clerk of the House