[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 588 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 588

           Honoring the bravery and legacy of the Clinton 12.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            August 17, 2021

Mr. Cooper (for himself, Mr. Fleischmann, and Ms. Norton) submitted the 
   following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
           Honoring the bravery and legacy of the Clinton 12.

Whereas education in the United States is a fundamental right;
Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled in Brown v. 
        Board of Education that racial segregation in public education is 
        unconstitutional;
Whereas the school system in Clinton, Tennessee, began to desegregate in 1956 as 
        the result of a court order;
Whereas the students who desegregated Clinton High School were Jo Ann Allen 
        Boyce, Bobby Cain, Anna Therreser Caswell, Minnie Ann Dickey Jones, Gail 
        Ann Epps Upton, Ronald Gordon Hayden, William Latham, Alvah J. McSwain 
        Lambert, Maurice Soles, Robert Thacker, Regina Turner Smith, and Alfred 
        Williams;
Whereas these students known as the ``Clinton 12'' were among the first students 
        to desegregate a public high school in Tennessee, and among the first 
        students to desegregate any school in the South after Brown v. Board of 
        Education;
Whereas, in August 1956, the Clinton 12 were pursued on their walks to school by 
        white supremacists including the Ku Klux Klan, were threatened with 
        violence, and in some cases were forced to flee the community;
Whereas for years the town of Clinton was the target of white supremacy that 
        resulted in the calling of the National Guard to protect the students 
        and culminated in the bombing of Clinton High School in 1958, which was 
        never solved;
Whereas amid this racism and violence, the Clinton 12 walked to school to pursue 
        the right to an equal education; and
Whereas students across the United States today still face discrimination and 
        inequities in educational opportunities: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) honors the members of the Clinton 12;
            (2) commends their bravery and perseverance in the face of 
        hate;
            (3) recognizes the courage of their families and friends 
        who were subjected to racially motivated violence and 
        intimidation in the years following the desegregation of 
        Clinton High School;
            (4) remembers the words of the late Representative John 
        Lewis who said in commemorating the Clinton 12, ``Thank you for 
        standing up. Thank you for getting in the way. Thank you for 
        being you.''; and
            (5) calls for the fulfillment of the promise by the United 
        States Supreme Court that all students be afforded equal 
        protection under the law, and ``separate educational facilities 
        are inherently unequal.''.
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