Bill Text: TX HR968 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Congratulating Ron Stallworth on the success of his memoir and movie.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Passed) 2019-03-26 - Reported enrolled [HR968 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HR968-Enrolled.html
| H.R. No. 968 | ||
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| WHEREAS, In his memoir Black Klansman, El Paso resident Ron | ||
| Stallworth delivers a riveting account of his experiences as an | ||
| African American police detective leading an undercover | ||
| investigation into the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s, and his book is | ||
| receiving renewed interest since being adapted into an Academy | ||
| Award-winning film by director Spike Lee; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Ron Stallworth was born in Chicago and moved to El | ||
| Paso when he was just four years old; initially, his family lived in | ||
| the heart of the city's small but proud African American community, | ||
| which had a long history of advocating for civil rights, including | ||
| challenging racist voting laws and successfully pushing for | ||
| desegregation in area schools; he later lived in neighborhoods that | ||
| were primarily made up of white and Hispanic residents, a situation | ||
| that forced him to negotiate a less familiar cultural landscape; | ||
| after graduating from Austin High School in 1971, he moved to | ||
| Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he joined a cadet program with | ||
| the city's police department; he was promoted to police officer and | ||
| then became the first black detective in the history of the agency; | ||
| and | ||
| WHEREAS, In the late 1970s, Detective Stallworth initiated a | ||
| seven-month undercover investigation in which he infiltrated the Ku | ||
| Klux Klan through phone conversations with local members and KKK | ||
| Grand Wizard David Duke; for face-to-face meetings with Klan | ||
| members, a white police officer posed as Mr. Stallworth; this | ||
| investigation successfully thwarted Klan activities, including | ||
| several cross burnings and a plan to bomb two gay bars in Denver; it | ||
| also revealed the presence of KKK members in the United States | ||
| military and the North American Aerospace Defense Command; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Shortly after the investigation ended, Detective | ||
| Stallworth left Colorado Springs, and he went on to work with law | ||
| enforcement agencies in Arizona, Wyoming, and Utah before retiring | ||
| and returning home to El Paso; in 2013, he penned Black Klansman to | ||
| chronicle the Colorado Springs investigation; and | ||
| WHEREAS, A revered law enforcement officer and an acclaimed | ||
| author, Ron Stallworth has distinguished himself through his | ||
| efforts to document and combat racism, and his achievements are a | ||
| source of great pride in El Paso and beyond; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas | ||
| Legislature hereby congratulate Ron Stallworth on the success of | ||
| Black Klansman and honor him for his important work; and, be it | ||
| further | ||
| RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
| prepared for Mr. Stallworth as an expression of high regard by the | ||
| Texas House of Representatives. | ||
| Fierro | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Speaker of the House | ||
| I certify that H.R. No. 968 was adopted by the House on March | ||
| 26, 2019, by a non-record vote. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
