Bill Text: TX HCR38 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Expressing support for designating January 19 as Confederate Freedom Day.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2025-03-05 - Referred to Culture, Recreation & Tourism [HCR38 Detail]
Download: Texas-2025-HCR38-Introduced.html
| 89R9251 TBO-D | ||
| By: Dutton | H.C.R. No. 38 | |
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| WHEREAS, On June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger | ||
| arrived in Galveston with federal troops to provide military | ||
| support for Reconstruction efforts and to enforce President Abraham | ||
| Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation; that same day, General | ||
| Granger read publicly his General Order No. 3, which proclaimed | ||
| that all slaves were undeniably free from that date onward and that | ||
| there would be "an absolute equality of rights and rights of | ||
| property between former masters and slaves"; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The proclamation sought to break the physical chains | ||
| that bound slaves to their masters, but it could not sufficiently | ||
| address the mental shackles that prevented many former slaveowners | ||
| from truly accepting the freedom of former slaves; over time, the | ||
| racist ideology engendered by former slaveowners has remained | ||
| pervasive in American society; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Each year, the State of Texas observes Confederate | ||
| Heroes Day on January 19 to commemorate the lives of Confederate | ||
| President Jefferson Davis and General Robert E. Lee as well as | ||
| Confederate soldiers who died during the Civil War; opponents of | ||
| the holiday have spoken out about the need to preserve history | ||
| without glorifying individuals who fought to keep slaves in | ||
| bondage; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Eliminating Confederate Heroes Day and creating | ||
| Confederate Freedom Day would symbolize the state's commitment to | ||
| the values of liberty and equality, and the new holiday would help | ||
| to unite Texans in the fight against institutional racism and | ||
| discrimination; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 89th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby express support for designating January 19 as Confederate | ||
| Freedom Day. | ||
