Dallas Racial/class Tension

[largeTEXAS]

I went to Dallas this week to study its many urban projects. I was pleased with many of the mixed-use projects and very impressed with how fast they are developing them.

West Village looks great, Mockingbird Station is beautifully designed, and Victory is going to be a real spectacle. Uptown's speed in densifying is staggering and, I'll admit, I'm very jealous.

But along with the excitement of all the new projects, there seems to be a dark and frightening race issue in Dallas. Thursday and Friday night I went out to the Zaza, West Village, Lower Greenville, and Deep Ellum. Of course Zaza and West Village were booming and pristine (albeit almost entirely Caucasian). In both Lower Greenville and Deep Ellum, however, racial tension seemed to be an epidemic.

Now, I'm not trying to trash Dallas. I debated even writing this, but after my time there I feel an obligation to say something.

In Deep Ellum I felt very unsafe. After living in New York City and Mexico City I never imagined a Texas city would make me feel this way. Police were everywhere and violence was apparent. People taunted each other on the sidewalk and one block was almost entirely taped off because the storefronts had all been vandalized.

Lower Greenvile was a mess. I walked past one club that was surrounded by police and ambulances. People were being escorted or carried out covered in blood with visible cuts on their bodies. I'm not sure what happened, but apparently a fight had broken out and lots of people were injured. I passed another club where a patron and bouncer were pushing each other. A group of people were scuffling just beyond.

It could have just been a bad night in bad areas of town. I could also just be over sensitive. But my hosts told me of the racial tensions present. A few shop owners agreed that the city is very segregated. The more time I spent there the more I saw and the worse it felt.

Dallas is our sister city and I feel obliged to say something and possibly do something. It's frightening and sad how the issue is just swept under the rug. If my experience is any indication, the city is facing some serious issues. It needs to be talked about and efforts made to address the issues

[Ethanra]

Dallas is known as a very racist city. It does a very good showing off the very nice areas but behind the scenes it is very racist, trashy, and crime infected.

[MidtownCoog]

Don't forget the early 90s. Nobody up there knew how to get along.

I don't think much has changed in that respect.

[The Great Hizzy!]

Unfortunately, there are some on city council who might be contributing to any supposed racial tension up there. I'd say that you probably caught the city on a bad night but at the same time, there has been some growing tension concerning certain issues that have racial undertones, such as dedicated capital projects, budgeting and, seemingly the most important and volatile, the management of the city's public schools.

In my view, Lower Greenville seemed to be a step above Deep Ellum. Sorry to hear that businesses in DE have experienced vandalism. I know people who are moving to that area would like to see this change, as it's a fringe neighborhood that could become an Uptown in 20 years or so.

[N Judah]

The only incident of racism I ever personally encountered in TX was in Dallas...

[Casual Observer]

The only incident of racism I ever personally encountered in TX was in Dallas...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Head east.. you'll find alot more along the Louisiana border.

[HOUCAJUN]

Head east.. you'll find alot more along the Louisiana border.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i agree

[sevfiv]

Head east.. you'll find alot more along the Louisiana border.

yes...take a tour through the big thicket - stop by kountze and then vidor toward louisiana - you'll feel some tension there

[tamtagon]

The DPD has been mess up for years.

[The Great Hizzy!]

The DPD has been mess up for years.

Yeah, their interpretation/handling of the nuisance property law in South Dallas that I read about was especially bad. I can't believe DPD's response, after getting grilled by state committees in Austin a few weeks ago, is to put even more of a burden on the property owners who complain about drug dealing and vagrancy.

[slfunk]

Dallas is known as a very racist city.

[MidtownCoog]

I remember one memer of Dallas city council called Mayor Laura "racist" becuae the Texas OU game had a better start date/time than the Prarie View Grambling.

And recently the black ministers went toe-to-toe with the mayor for a re-call election.

While I don't think the people in general are racist, their politics sure are. And most appear to me (lived there 4 years, still read their news) has the black leaders stirring it all up.

[banking214]

After living in Houston, Austin and now Dallas, I would have to say that there is a problem that people don't want to discuss. I do see this city as racist, but from all perspectives. You have the wealthy Northern suburban areas versus the economically challenged areas of South Dallas. Nothing is going to change until South Dallas is brought back to its former glory. This is going to take the work of the community and the community leaders. It is my belief that some in the South Dallas community would rather bicker and stir up the hostilities than actually coming to the table and discussing the larger problems at hand. Dallas is a great city with great citizens, hopefully any tensions can be rectified in the very near future. Before I forget, the incident on Lower Grenville was not a racial incident. Just drunk adults, something you would see in downtown Houston on any weekend.

[MidtownCoog]

On a related note:

New NAACP path could alienate old guard

Incoming chief's plan for improved White House ties raises some alarms

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/politics/3258939

And on a somewhat related note:

"Basically, we've lost our soul," said Hendrik Maison, who served as student body president for two years before graduating last December. "It's not a black institution anymore. It's an institution with a lot of black people."

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/m...politan/3260479

[slfunk]

I remember one memer of Dallas city council called Mayor Laura "racist" becuae the Texas OU game had a better start date/time than the Prarie View Grambling.

And recently the black ministers went toe-to-toe with the mayor for a re-call election.

While I don't think the people in general are racist, their politics sure are.

[tamtagon]

I have lived in Dallas, Long Beach/Orange County and Atlanta. Of the three, I sense racial tension is much less in Dallas. There will always be bigots trying to hurt someone who's different, that's human nature.

[VicMan]

Dallas ISD is separate from the municipal government.

Would forcing Dallas ISD and other schools in the city limits (such as AFAIK Highland Park) into a new city-controlled school district help?

[Heights2Bastrop]

I have been nothing more than an occasional visitor to Dallas, but I have always gotten the feeling that there was a great deal of tacit segregation there. There are a number of places I have been where I saw very few if and Blacks or Hispanics.

Although there are many neighborhoods in Houston that are mostly segregated, you can usually find area of minorities in most areas of the city. In Dallas it seemed that the races were separated geographically, the north being almost exclusively White.

Am I mistaken in my perceptions?

[Original Timmy Chan's]

I don't think Dallas is as segregated as Atlanta.

[Willy1]

Dallas has all sorts of problems on the political front. Racism is a little strong though. If you're going to analyze the prolems in Dallas and claim the fault is "racism", then you have to sort of explain why.

There is a white mayor trying to deal with the political currents in an almost all minoirty city council and in Dallas it's the entire city council that runs the show. The mayor has her hands tied and can't make decisions without the city council. The reason the Strong Mayor Initiative was proposed was to releive some of the tensions in the city council by ending so many of the argument sessions by empowering the mayor to do things without the approval of the city council. Propaganda-hounds in the southern sector quickly started pointing and shouting "racist" claims aimed at the mayor - and she's not even the person who proposed the Strong Mayor Campaign. That would lead some to believe that the city problems are racial. You have to be careful throwing that term around though because historically it is a term that has been pointed at white people. However, IMHO, the problems in Dallas are being caused by the people in the southern end of town who are trying to play the racial card in order to extort what they want from the city. However, you have to remember that these same problems existed prior to Laura Miller becoming mayor, when Ron Kirk was the mayor (for those who don't know him, he's black). Mayor Kirk was a great mayor and his biggest problem while he was in office also came from the city council - mainly Laura Miller. They would have screaming matches in city council meetings - all caught on TV to the embarassment of most Dallasites. (These public outbursts were also hapening at the same time that the Dallas ISD was going through some controversial stuff and of course that was caught on TV as well...) Regardless, this is a debate that is WAY too broad to be discussed logically here.... But, I don't think that what is going on in Dallas is rare to Dallas.... It happens in all major cities. Dallas just has a problem with doing it on the 6 O'Clock news.

Anyway, what's going on in the City Govt. and the DISD has nothing to do with what's going on in Deep Elum and Lower Greenville... Please don't confuse tensions at City Hall with stuff going on in those areas. Lower Greenville isn't usually like that. You must have caught it on a bad night. Deep Ellum, on the other hand, has become a nightmare. My best friend just moved out of Deep Ellum 6 months ago after living in an urban loft for 3 years. When he moved there, Deep Ellum was on the up-swing and improving. Lofts were popping up all over the place and retail stores were going in left and right - it was on track to be a really cool urban area. I don't know what happened, but it seems like things just crashed over night. There were a lot of great restaraunts/bars/clubs and lots of urban living. But suddenly a very dangerous criminal element basically took over Deep Ellum. People were being jumped and attacked for no apparent reason - some were even killed. The city turned its attention to the problem and infused the area with police. But that did little to fix the problem. Cars thefts/break ins were a daily event... graffetti became a problem and gangs started moving in and retail started moving out... Now, Deep Ellum is a shadow of what it was just a few years ago. But, they're supposedly working on the problem. But, how do you address a problem with gangs and criminals in a city where the city council is so quick to start screaming "racist" at anyone who dares to accuse the criminals for the downfall of an area when the criminals in question just also happen to be minorities? It's a catch 22.

[HarryMoto]

No doubt Dallas has its racial problems but compared to the last place I lived, Miami (which has had 2 two major race riots in the last 15 years or so and seems far more segregated), it doesn't seem so bad. I guess it just depends what you're comparing it to. I haven't spent much time in Houston. Is it that much different from Dallas?

[rantanamo]

The private sector could end a lot of the crap going on in the next 5 years. All I have to say is we shall see. The opportunity is there. Will anyone take advantage or will they continue to run as far north as they can?

As for why such tension, I believe the physical seperation as well as lack of new guard leadership in certain communities always kills any progress.

[RedScare]

I have always thought that huge Trinity River dividing line was a physical monument to a perceived division, too.

To respond to Moto, I haved lived in Dallas/Ft Worth (8 years) and Houston (20 years). There is a rather large difference between the two. Much of it is historical. Back when the lunch counters were being integrated, Houston's white leaders thought the confrontations and ensuing bad publicity would be bad for business. They brokered a backroom deal with some of the leaders of the lunch counter revolt. The deal was that the counters would quietly open to blacks and the black community would not protest. Both sides honored the agreement, and Houston integrated without so much as a whimper.

Both sides showed leadership and restraint that day and it seems to be an overriding influence to this day. There are differences, to be sure, but both sides are willing to discuss it instead of make hay over it.

[Willy1]

I wish the racial tensions in Dallas weren't as extreme as they are, but Dallas is such a transitional city right now.... and at the same time tons of stuff is being developed downtown and in uptown.... South Dallas is trying very hard to get the ball rolling and having some of their own development in that part of the city. There have been a few good things so far, but nothing compared with what's going on North of the Trinity/i-30..... South Side on Lamar lofts have been a huge success and the new Police Head Quarters across the street from SSonLamar is also a nice new development. The problem in Dallas is that the city council members who are almost insistant on developments taking place in the southern sector aren't doing the up-front work that needs to be done in that area to make it attractive to developers. The crime rate in those areas make it tough for developers to justify building in those "danger zones". Meanwhile, peaceful areas of Dallas are flourishing and building left and right.

Deep Ellum development has dried up because of the criminal element that has moved in. Long time established restaurant Sambuca moved to a new Uptown location. Down the street, a huge furniture retailer that had been in Deep Ellum for years moved to North Dallas and across the street, 4 or 5 of the small unique retail shops that put Deep Ellum on the map have closed up shop and the only retailer left in that block is an urban 7-11. I stopped by that 7-11 last week for a quick slurpee fix and I was scared for my life because there were 5 scary fellows in there threatening the cashier because she couldn't give them a cash refund for the batteries they were trying to return without a receipt. There was screaming and threats and I wanted to drop my cherry/cola treat and run.

Bascially, the southside residents are seeing what's going on in downtown/uptown and they want to have that development too.... So, instead of cleaning up their act and making their area more desireable and attracting developers the right way... they're trying to flex their city council muscle in an effort to stong-arm their way to development.

But, we all need to remember this is not a Dallas-specific problem. It happens in big cities all over the country. Dallas - in true Dallas fashion - has just made the mistake of letting it happen on television. I think that if they ever remake the TV Show Dallas, they should scrap the actors and just make it a reality show.

[MidtownCoog]

Willy,

Y'all will never get past it until people stop calling South Dallas "South Dallas" and North Dallas "North Dallas". Statements like this just perpetuate the sterotype.

Every Dallasite I talk to has the "North" vs. "South" approach, like it's two different cities.

It should just be "Dallas."

It's funny how you don't see that in Houston.

Of course, I lived in lilly white Addison! What do I know?

[Willy1]

Willy,

Y'all will never get past it until people stop calling South Dallas "South Dallas" and North Dallas "North Dallas".  Statements like this just perpetuate the sterotype.

Every Dallasite I talk to has the "North" vs. "South" approach, like it's two different cities.

It should just be "Dallas."

It's funny how you don't see that in Houston.

Of course, I lived in lilly white Addison!  What do I know?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is probably some validity to that statement.... I get the "need for unity" sentiment behind it, and nothing could be more true when it comes to a city needing to unify. But I really don't think that "North Dallas" vs "South Dallas" terminology perpetuates any sort of assumed racial borders. I think those are just descriptive geographical terms used to describe an area of Dallas. It's along the same lines as referring to Oak Cliff... it simply describes what part of Dallas a person is talking about. Of course, "North Dallas" has become so synonymous with wealth that I can see what you're talking about in a way.

But, there was an earlier statement in this thread that made it sound as if North Dallas is strictly off limits to anyone who is not white. That simply isn't true.

The real resentment in Dallas comes from South of the Trinity and is sort of a one-sided thing. People in North Dallas are in such a bubble that South Dallas never even crosses their minds. But, over in South Dallas everytime they look north they see the gleaming towers that symbolize the wealth and prosperity of Dallas and it eats at them. Rather than focusing on the problems in South Dallas and trying to solve some of the problems that plague that area, they keep their envious eyes trained to the north and obssess about what they don't have. If they would get some of the incredible crime problems solved in South Dallas then it would help (Dallas' crime rate is almost entirely caused by crimes in the Southern half of Dallas - North Dallas crime is minimal compared to that in South Dallas). Of course, the thing that really screwed things up was losing the Cowboys to Arlington. Laura Miller and the City Council should have been taken out back for letting that happen. Had they managed to snag the Cowboys new stadium and put it in Fair Park - where it belongs - then a lot of the improvements the people of S. Dallas are so desperate for would have been provided.... The city really dropped the ball on that one - no pun intended. I can't even begin to imagine how much development that would have spawned in the Fair Park area of Dallas. They're already talking about building a Time Square-scale/style urban development, complete with skyscrapers, around the stadium in Arlington giving that city what it has always wanted --- a real skyline.

But, I agree something has to change in Dallas govt. before anything will really change in the city of Dallas. I think the strong mayor initiative would have done just that. Dallas is one of only a few cities structured the way it is. In most large cities the Mayor actually has some real power to opperate and run the city. They should have at least tried it, and then if it didn't work, go back to the way things are now.... Oh well.

[MidtownCoog]

It's not about assumed racial borders as much as it is the tale of two cities.

I really am pulling for y'all to "all get along".

I lived in Addison! but always prefered Fair Park, Harry Hines, Denton Drive, Lower Greenville, etc.

Those places are real and reminded me of home (Houston), but Addison! and the other northern cities were just far too planed out to feel real.

Cowboys to Arlington? Y'all never even had them in the first place, LOL! Irving did!

[RedScare]

"Of course, the thing that really screwed things up was losing the Cowboys to Arlington. Laura Miller and the City Council should have been taken out back for letting that happen. Had they managed to snag the Cowboys new stadium and put it in Fair Park - where it belongs - then a lot of the improvements the people of S. Dallas are so desperate for would have been provided.... The city really dropped the ball on that one - no pun intended."

I've heard a lot of people promise a lot of things with their professional sports teams...but, never have I seen one promise to cure racism.

No wonder they call them "America's Team".

PS - Just wondering, since I moved back to Houston in 1995...when did they move Fair Park out of East Dallas?

[Willy1]

It's not about assumed racial borders as much as it is the tale of two cities.

I really am pulling for y'all to "all get along".

I lived in Addison! but always prefered Fair Park, Harry Hines, Denton Drive, Lower Greenville, etc.

Those places are real and reminded me of home (Houston), but Addison! and the other northern cities were just far too planed out to feel real.

Cowboys to Arlington?  Y'all never even had them in the first place, LOL!  Irving did!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When the Cowboys first started, they were playing at the Cotton Bowl. Then they moved to Irving.

[Willy1]

"Of course, the thing that really screwed things up was losing the Cowboys to Arlington. Laura Miller and the City Council should have been taken out back for letting that happen. Had they managed to snag the Cowboys new stadium and put it in Fair Park - where it belongs - then a lot of the improvements the people of S. Dallas are so desperate for would have been provided.... The city really dropped the ball on that one - no pun intended."

I've heard a lot of people promise a lot of things with their professional sports teams...but, never have I seen one promise to cure racism.

No wonder they call them "America's Team".

PS - Just wondering, since I moved back to Houston in 1995...when did they move Fair Park out of East Dallas?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Fair Park is South East of DT Dallas.... but the area to the south of Fair Park would have benefited the most from putting the Cowboys back in Fair Park.... I never said that the Cowboys could/would cure racism. I merely suggested that it would smooth a few feathers since one of the things that people in South Dallas want so badly is economic development - such as one of the world's most valuable sports franchises moving to the area. If the Cowboys had built in Fair Park, the entire Fair Park area, and some parts of South Dallas would have seen a positive economic impact from the improvements that would have surrounded Fair Park. But, now we'll never know.... all those benefits will now be realized in Arlington, which moves all the Dallas Cowboy tax base completely out of Dallas County and into Tarrant County. This is the fist time in the Cowboy's history that they won't reside in Dallas County.

And, now that I think about it, I don't like using the term "racist" when referring to the problems in Dallas because most of the time the term "racist" is pointed at white people. It's a very derogatory term and it's a label that I don't think the city of Dallas deserves. I believe, if anything, the racial tensions in the city stem more from the people in South Dallas who constantly play the race card anytime someone mentions crime rate statistics in that sector of the city. In a lot of ways, it's not a race issue - it is a crime issue. The reason Deep Ellum is suffering is because criminal elements are coming from the South and causing trouble. Deep Ellum was for a long time a very safe, and very diversified part of the city. But, it has recently lost it's reputation as being a safe melting pot. In recent years there have been lots of incidents of white club-goers being attacked in the streets - some beaten, stabbed, or shot to death. The crime in Deep Ellum and the availablity of other night life options in other parts of the city have led to a severe decline in Deep Ellum. This has resulted in many business failures in Deep Ellum. Unfortunately these statistics have been used as an example forwhy some developers don't want to do business in some of the high crime areas in the southern part of Dallas.

It's a "which came first the chicken or the egg" situation. The city of Dallas has a tough fight ahead of it to sort out these problems and it's getting national attention. I wish them luck. Dallas is a city with a lot of potential, but it's at a turning point. Things will either get better or get worse depending on what the city leaders do.... Only time will tell...