Texas Bill Would Abolish Confederate Heroes Day in the State
The bill was first proposed back in 2019, but it looks like it will be resurfacing once again this year.
Texas Representative Jarvis Johnson, District 139, says he’ll introduce House Bill 36. This bill would officially end Confederate Heroes Day in the state. Some maybe asking, when is Confederate Heroes Day? It's actually this Tuesday, January 19th. Texas is not the only state that has a Confederate Heroes Day. Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Tennessee and Virginia all do as well.
“Confederate Heroes Day” has been observed in Texas since 1973. In 2015, Texas Representative Donna Howard filed a bill to rename the holiday “Civil War Remembrance Day". That bill was killed in the committee that year. Looks like Representative Howard will be helping Representative Johnson with his bill.
“Now is the perfect time, after everything that we’ve experienced over the past interim with Black Lives Matter, and absolutely increased consciousness about institutional racism and implicit bias,” Howard said. “I don’t know how anybody could justify having a state holiday that dignifies Confederates, especially at this point in time, so I am very hopeful.
Johnson will be having a press conference this Tuesday (on Confederate Heroes Day) discussing his bill and that this would mean. If you're interested in what he has to say on House Bill 36, keep an eye on his Facebook page. “I believe now more than ever, with white supremacists rioting in the U.S. Capitol, we must combat white supremacy and its historical representations wherever we find them,” Johnson said.