[Filed with Secretary of State July 7, 2016.]
SJR 15, Glazer. Confederate States of America.
This bill would urge the Congress and the President of the United States to rename any federal buildings, parks, roadways, or other federally owned property that bear the names of elected or military leaders of the Confederate States of America.
WHEREAS, The Confederate States of America and its secessionist movement were rooted in the defense of slavery; and
WHEREAS, Using the names of elected or military leaders of the Confederate States of America for federal buildings, parks, roadways, or other federally owned property only deepens the pain of those living under the legacy of slavery; and
WHEREAS, The United States of America continues to struggle with racial equality and tolerance; and
WHEREAS, The continued use of names of elected or military leaders of the Confederacy in public places is offensive to Americans who treasure the United States as one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all; and
WHEREAS, The horrific shooting deaths of nine African Americans attending church in South Carolina have once again raised the searing issue of racial violence and intolerance; and
WHEREAS, The ensuing images of the killer wrapping himself in the Confederate flag points to the continued use of that emblem of cruel oppression as a way to further demean, offend, and wound whole segments of our society; and
WHEREAS, The use of Confederate leaders’ names in public schools, buildings, parks, roadways, or other federally owned property in California only serves to further the discriminatory agenda of current sympathizers of the ideology of the Confederate States of America, and is antithetical to California’s mission of racial equality and tolerance; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature respectfully urges the Congress and the President of the United States to rename any federal buildings, parks, roadways, or other federally owned property that bear the names of elected or military leaders of the Confederate States of America; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.
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