The Uncomfortable Truth About Five AntiBlack Politicians In Dallas
Racism in politics has been keeping Dallas divided for years
In 2023, 5 Dallas leaders have either blocked educational opportunities for Black children, made Black communities more dangerous, or mocked Black people through offensive blackface displays
Democrats and Republicans continue to refuse to listen to Black parents, business owners, and community members in Dallas
In Dallas, segregation isn’t mere history; it remains an ongoing struggle against racist politicians who, intentionally or otherwise, continue to foster inequality and division. Dallas is also unique in that its expansive highways serve as potent partitions of it’s 14 Districts and connected suburbs.
This year, five of our city leaders have done more than turn a blind eye to systemic racism. They’ve actively perpetuated it. These leaders have blocked educational opportunities for Black children, exacerbated the precariousness of Black communities, and engaged in shameful displays of blackface, a blatant mockery of the people they’ve sworn to represent. The blatant racism in their actions not only disrespects the citizens they are supposed to represent but undermines the very essence of our democracy.
Judge Clay Jenkins is first on the list, who in his youth committed a flagrant act of Black face during a panty raid. Imagine if he was an actual Black man committing the panty raid; the truth is that he would probably still be in jail, and have no secure path to ever being the leader of Dallas County. Instead, due to the hard work of his white privilege, he gets to stay in multimillion dollars mansions while advocating for the idea that juvenile delinquents need freedom more than they need reformation. He could have approved for a charter school that focused exclusively on addressing the needs of young boys and girls facing behavioral setbacks. Still, instead, he opted to spend his time making sure that they could take on their liberties, which unfortunately led many to a life of crime. This week he was seen enjoying his lavish lifestyle at the White House, advocating for more policies that inevitably set us back further.
Speaking of crime, DA John Creuzot’s is next on the list. By promoting himself as a progressive District Attorney and adopting a strategy that puts felon’s rights first, the criminal justice system in Dallas is often compelled to let violent felon’s off with easy sentences, where they go back to poor neighborhoods and continue to commit crimes. This dereliction of duty has led to a lapse of judicial reasoning and made unserved areas of Dallas even less safe. If Black families are the primary victims of this progressive policy adjustment when the convicts are coddled into being able to commit more crimes in Black neighborhoods then why shouldn’t we all recognize the hypocrisy in that?
It doesn’t stop there, unfortunately, because in Dallas, with its iconic freeways and skyscrapers, there is an actual invisible enclave of NIMBYs(Not In My BackYard) Liberals. Many of whom serve in our local government and councils. Take Paul Ridley, who voted to defund the police by making the Chief of Police Eddie Garcia, ask for permission each and every time the police needed overtime to do their jobs. He is fine with have plenty of law enforcement available in his small district with a population of 96000, but when it comes to making sure South Dallas has the adequate coverage it needs to keep the assaults, the shootings and the vagrancy at bay, his only concern is making sure that his area doesn’t have to deal with that. Beyond that, it is out of sight and mind, and he is not alone. He refuses to get Dallas the responsible police force it deserves that is reflective of our community and accountable to black residents.
Education wise the Board of Trustees for the DISD has been quite steadfast in ensuring that students do not benefit from school choice. They are protectorates of a system that keeps poor Black students at the bottom of the totem pole of life with failing schools. When most families yearn for the benefit of school choice to place their kids in an environment where they can be better prepared for life, their pleas are ignored and are condescendingly told that only a State run public school could possibly be the solution for how the public institutions are actively failing the students.
This is why Dallas ISD Superintendent Dr.Stephanie Elizalde ranks high with her institutionally racist stances. What matters the most to her is how much the school system can charge per student and how that aids and abets a two-tier system in public education; one for administrators and another for students and teachers. This has led to an educational industry focusing primarily on employment more than outcomes. In most schools, this has led to teachers fast-tracking students through their coursework and giving them passing grades when they do not comprehend the bulk of what is being taught in the class. So while administrators and experimental programs command the bulk of the budget, the teachers are forced to buy class materials and to earn their performance bonus they MUST pass their students regardless of whether or not the student needs to repeat the course. That is why the situation and the active participants perpetuating it are racist.
The schools in Dallas’s marginalized neighborhoods should be hotbeds of opportunity, not inequality. Instead, opportunities for Black children are being undermined by those who wield political power. The systematic defunding and neglect of educational institutions in these communities reflect a disregard for their potential and a deliberate attempt to stifle progress. Every child has the right to quality education, and it’s high time our leaders acknowledged this and committed to breaking down barriers to educational equity.
Finally, we are forced to accept the unconscionable performance issues with City Manager T.C. Broadnax, who has left the crime stats in Dallas unavailable to the public. Before the alleged ransomware attack, we could see the Black people made up the majority of victims of crime in Dallas. Four months have transpired and for whatever reason, with a salary well over 425,000 dollars a year, he cannot devise a means for us to have that valuable information immediately available. No concrete explanations were given, just us having to endure all the crime firsthand via the news. He had just received a raise of 3% in the last year yet has demonstrated a degree of incompetence in keeping the public aware of the ever-increasing level of danger. Meanwhile, other news sources try to assure us that crime is not on the decline, which is not true.
Yet, this is not an issue we can pin on one party. Democrats and Republicans alike have proven guilty of this gross negligence. They’ve persistently refused to listen to Black parents, business owners, and community members, the very lifeblood of Dallas. The voices of these communities continue to be drowned out by the cacophony of political maneuvering and the deafening silence of apathy.
The increased danger in Black communities is also a clear result of systemic discrimination. It’s the outcome of years of economic neglect, underinvestment, and apathy towards the actual victims of crime. By refusing to address these structural issues and ignoring the need for more law enforcement, our leaders are treating the symptoms rather than the disease, thereby perpetuating a cycle of violence and mistrust.
In the face of such indignities, the grotesque blackface displayed by our leaders are the final insult. This is not humor; it is a harmful, racist trope with a history steeped in denigration and oppression. Yet this play on Black face is not only isolated to what Clay Jenkins did as a young adult. It extends itself into areas of politics where people are Black but they find reasons not to act in the best interest of the Black community. Which one is a more potent symbol of the systemic racism that has plagued our nation is debatable, yet its acceptance at any level is a painful reminder of how far we have yet to go.
The time for change is now. It’s not enough to acknowledge the problem; we must actively seek its resolution. We must reject the narrative of racial bias, challenge our leaders, and demand a political system that represents all its citizens.
Political accountability is paramount. We must press our leaders to prioritize the needs of Black communities and schools and call for comprehensive policies that address the root causes of inequality and segregation. Recognizing how crime undermines and disfigures Black families is one of them. If Black families are more oppressed by criminals than police, then recognition is requisite in putting the next step forward. We should scrutinize our elected officials’ actions and demand the highest standards of conduct, including completely renouncing all forms of racism.
But we also need to do more than hold our politicians accountable. We must engage in ongoing dialogue about race and discrimination as a society. We must listen to Black parents, business owners, and community members when they voice their concerns and experiences. We need to involve them in the political process, in shaping the policies that directly impact them.
Our pursuit of social justice must remain steadfast. Dallas, a city known for its spirit of resilience, can and must do better. Let this be our collective call to action: Let’s dismantle these discrimination and segregation systems and build a genuinely inclusive and equitable Dallas.
