(June 13, 2006)—McLennan County Commissioner Lester Gibson vowed Tuesday to keep raising the question of whether a resolution condemning past lynchings should be displayed next to an historical mural that includes a noose dangling from a hanging tree.

Commissioners have already voted against the display, but Gibson brought up the issue again for a third week Tuesday, to the chagrin of Commissioner Ray Meadows, who said he’s had enough.
“I’m going to excuse myself from any other discussion,” Meadows said.

I’m going to bring it up every week,” Gibson responded.

Commissioners voted last month to approve the resolution condemning “all past unlawful acts and lynchings and the ‘mob mentality’ that fostered these despicable acts of violence,” but the resolution did not include an apology.

Click Here For Full Text Of Resolution

The resolution is shorter than the draft proposed by the Community Race Relations Coalition, which called on city and county officials to “apologize for the failure of past leadership to uphold and defend lynching victims' most basic rights to life, liberty, and due process under the laws of our cherished democracy…. and express the deepest sympathies and most solemn regrets to the descendants of victims of lynchings, whose ancestors were deprived of life, human dignity, and the constitutional protections accorded to all citizens of the United States.”

Click Here To Read The Full Draft Resolution

Click Here For Race Relations Coalition Web Site

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