DISCUSSION #5: RACIAL TENSION, BLACK LIVES MATTER & CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS We can't discuss Texas government without addressing issue of race. The history of race in America encompasses questions of...

DISCUSSION #5: RACIAL TENSION, BLACK LIVES MATTER & CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS

We can't discuss Texas government without addressing issue of race. The history of race in America encompasses questions of freedom, justice, equality, and citizenship. The Civil War was caused because the southern states refused to end slavery. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."




Juneteenth celebrates “a moment of indescribable joy”: It has its roots in the long-awaited moment of emancipation in Texas, where more than 250,000 enslaved black people received news on June 19, 1865 — more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation — that they were free.The video of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in Minneapolis triggered protests around the world. It brought renewed attention to thehigh-profile deaths of black Americansduring the past decade and ongoing concerns about systemic racism in the criminal justice system. The police response in some cities has further fueled protesters, leading to calls todefund the police.


Analysis | How ‘Black Lives Matter’ Became a U.S. Protest Cry“Black Lives Matter” is a hashtag that grew into a movement, one that resurges on U.S. streets after high-profile deaths of African-Americans at the hands of the police. BLM, as it’s often known, is fueled by history and the power of smartphone videos spread by social media. The most recent trigger for angry protests nationwide was the May 25 death of a Minneapolis man, George Floyd, after being restrained by an officer who was later charged with his murder.Washington PostThe Jim Crow Era in United States history began towards the end of the Reconstruction Period and lasted until 1965 with the passage of the Voting Rights Act. The Jim Crow Era was more than a body of legislative acts on the federal, state and local levels that barred African-Americans from being full American citizens. Most of the confederate statues were constructed during the Jim Crow Era to intimidate African-Americans and minorities.https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/national/confederate-monuments/?itid=lb_americas-racial-reckoning-what-you-need-to-know_51. First of all, how do we recover as a nation and reunite from this state of division?2. Shouldn't all races feel that the police is there to protect them?3. Will defunding the police solve the problem or is better training the solution?
4. Should all Confederate statutes be removed? Are these statues a symbol of suppression and white supremacy?