Bill Text: TX HR576 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Recognizing April 4, 2023, as Texas NAACP Day at the State Capitol.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-03-30 - Reported enrolled [HR576 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HR576-Enrolled.html
H.R. No. 576 |
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WHEREAS, Members of the Texas State Conference of NAACP Units | ||
are visiting the State Capitol on April 4, 2023, in celebration of | ||
Texas NAACP Day; and | ||
WHEREAS, For more than a century, the NAACP has played a | ||
crucial role in the struggle for equal rights and justice; the | ||
organization was founded in 1909 and grew rapidly as it set agendas | ||
and developed tactics that would propel the civil rights movement | ||
through the 20th century; early members of the group included | ||
W. E. B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington, Moorfield Storey, and | ||
Ida B. Wells; and | ||
WHEREAS, The NAACP has drawn its strength as a grassroots | ||
organization from a membership based in hundreds of communities | ||
across the nation, and its local branches have been key to its | ||
effectiveness; in Texas, the first chapter was established in | ||
El Paso in 1915, and four more cities in the state gained branches | ||
three years later; and | ||
WHEREAS, In 1937, the Texas State Conference of NAACP Units | ||
was established under the leadership of A. Maceo Smith, and the | ||
organization gained traction as a sustained, statewide movement; | ||
the conference expanded rapidly during and after World War II, | ||
reaching a membership of almost 30,000 people in over 100 branches; | ||
early victories included Supreme Court cases that ended Democratic | ||
White primary elections and secured the admission of Heman M. | ||
Sweatt to The University of Texas School of Law; public school | ||
desegregation cases dragged on longer, tied up in the courts for | ||
years while the NAACP confronted government retaliation; and | ||
WHEREAS, Texas branches of the NAACP have continued to build | ||
on the accomplishments of the Civil Rights Era; initiatives include | ||
litigating redistricting cases and targeting discriminatory | ||
practices in employment, housing, and the criminal justice system; | ||
since 1991, that work has been guided by Gary Bledsoe, president of | ||
the Texas NAACP; and | ||
WHEREAS, For more than eight and a half decades, the Texas | ||
State Conference of NAACP Units has advanced the cause of social | ||
justice, and through their dedication as champions of equal rights, | ||
members across the state are furthering the vital goals of this | ||
trailblazing organization; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas | ||
Legislature hereby recognize April 4, 2023, as Texas NAACP Day at | ||
the State Capitol and extend to the members of the Texas State | ||
Conference of NAACP Units sincere best wishes for a memorable and | ||
productive visit to Austin. | ||
Reynolds | ||
______________________________ | ||
Speaker of the House | ||
I certify that H.R. No. 576 was adopted by the House on March | ||
30, 2023, by a non-record vote. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||