Zincwarrior
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- Nov 18, 2021
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Third time for the Bill. Looks like it has garnered support from the Mexican American Caucus this time. A compromise could be to make it the Civil War Heroes Day instead. Just a thought.
Texas lawmakers want to end state holiday commemorating Confederate veterans
For the third straight legislative session, state Rep. Jarvis Johnson, D-Houston, has filed a bill to end Confederate Heroes Day as a state holiday.
www.texastribune.org
Calling the celebration of Confederate Heroes Day a "constant reminder" of a horrible past, state Rep. Jarvis Johnson, D-Houston, on Wednesday called for Texas to end its commemoration as a state holiday.
Confederate Heroes Day is celebrated on Jan. 19. The holiday commemorates the lives of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Gen. Robert E. Lee as well as soldiers who died fighting the Union during the Civil War. Texas used to separately celebrate the birthdays of Davis and Lee, but consolidated them in 1973 into Confederate Heroes Day.
"When we talk about what Confederate Heroes Day is, it is a remembrance of a horrible past," Johnson, who is Black, said at a press conference surrounded by other lawmakers. "A past that has done irreparable damage to many of the residents of the state of Texas."
Johnson's bill to end Confederate Heroes Day is his third attempt; similar legislation didn't make it out of committees in the past two legislative sessions. In 2019, the House State Affairs Committee, then led by now-Speaker Dade Phelan, a Beaumont Republican, didn't bring up Johnson's bill for a vote.
In 2019, the Descendants of Confederate Veterans opposed the legislation. A spokesperson for the group declined comment on the new legislation.
Johnson was surrounded by leaders of the Texas Black Leadership Caucus, the House Democratic Caucus and the Mexican American Legislative Caucus at Wednesday's press conference.
"We cannot stand by as our state continues to formally celebrate and glorify the men who believed so deeply that Black men and women did not have rights, that they would go to war," said state Rep. Christina Morales, a Houston Democrat who is vice chair for the Mexican American Legislative Caucus. "We must teach our history to our children, but our children should grow up knowing that the Confederacy does not stand for the values of freedom that we continue to fight for today."