I have been conducting an informal, unscientific survey for the last few months with the goal of determining how Black Dallas is perceived by other successful Black folks in Dallas and other cities.  What I have discovered is that Dallas, in the eyes of many of its most prominent Black citizens, is a dreadful place to grow a Black business.  The survey also uncovered what I and many others feel is one of the biggest reasons for the lack of Black business development and southern sector economic development. The culprit most cited for southern Dallas’ woes is the failure of the partnership between the Dallas Citizens Council (DCC) and the city’s Black political leadership. 

My survey uncovered that the Black Dallas business community is considered the most financially depressed Black business community of any major urban center in America.   For instance, Dallas’ Black business community pales in comparison to Atlanta and Houston’s Black business communities.  Amazingly, St. Louis’ Black business community is more successful and progressive than Dallas’.  One would think that the DCC, one of the most successful civic and business organizations in the nation, would be embarrassed by this national perception.

Stories abound regarding some of Dallas’ most successful Black entrepreneurs who have had to go outside of the city to get financing and business opportunities.  Even more embarrassing is the impression successful African-Americans from other cities have of the local Black community.  Terms like “politically backwards” and “surprisingly broke” are often used to describe Dallas’ Black business and professional community by Black folks who come from other cities where African-Americans are experiencing much more financial success.

In my view, the Dallas Citizens Council (DCC) and the Black electorate have engaged in an abusive, dysfunctional, political relationship for decades that has left the southern sector underdeveloped while the Black vote has contributed to the success of DCC- sponsored political initiatives. Dallas’ Black political leadership has been nauseatingly ineffective and politically naïve in their dealings with the DCC.  The DCC represents a cadre of the wealthiest and most powerful business interests in the city.  For the record, I don’t believe all of the members of the DCC are racist, southern sector- hating plutocrats. But Dallas’ failure to develop the southern sector is due in large part to the lack of commitment from the DCC and the powerful people who run the organization. I sincerely believe if the DCC had wanted to develop southern Dallas and the Black business community we would not be talking about this issue today. For example, according to a Sunday Dallas Morning News story, billionaire Ray Hunt, arguably the most influential member of the DCC in the last 3 to 4 decades, is owed a great deal of credit for “remaking Dallas from an estranged American outpost to a cosmopolitan city at the crossroads of commercial and political life.” If that is true, then Mr. Hunt must also share much of the blame for the sorry state of the southern sector. Given that fact, it was not surprising to read in Sharon Grisby’s blog for the Dallas Morning News last week where she lamented that the new incoming chairman of the DCC, a Ray Hunt ally, never mentioned southern sector economic development as a goal for the DCC in his speech at the DCC’s annual luncheon. However, at this same event, Mayor Tom Leppert urged the well-heeled audience to join him in developing southern Dallas. It would appear that Mr. Hunt and his DCC are going in a different direction from Mayor Leppert and his group of business leaders in regards to increasing the city’s tax base by developing the southern sector.

 Throughout the campaign for the Trinity River toll road, I continuously pointed out that DCC types were behind the pro toll road forces and these were the same people who promise Black voters economic development for our vote but they never make good on their promises to develop southern Dallas.  True to form, not only did the incoming chair of the DCC feel no responsibility to the Black electorate who provided the votes to get the hotly contested toll road issue passed, he went on to say in his speech that he welcomed a return to the “good ole days.” To many African-Americans, that meant more of the same neglect for southern Dallas along with a return of the kind of racist attitude that was accepted here in the “good ole days.”

Commissioner John Wiley Price was the undisputed leader of the African-American electorate for over 2 decades.  During his watch, he allowed the southern sector to be neglected by the DCC types who were strongly backing his leadership of the Black electorate. The same goes for Dallas’ first Black mayor, Ron Kirk, who presided over the building of the American Airline Center and the passing of the original Trinity River project vote-both DCC sponsored projects.  But he did little or nothing to improve the plight of the Black community south of the Trinity.

We are the nation’s laughing stock as a Black business community because our Black political leadership has refused to demand accountability from the city’s most powerful white business organization. This organization happens to be the Black political community’s chief sources of campaign funds and “get out the vote” consulting dollars but little else.  If we are ever going to be on the road to resolving this issue, we must either have Black leaders who can demand and get accountability from the DCC in the form of real economic development for Black Dallas or we need to find some new white folks to partner with.  Next up, the DCC will be pushing the school bond election and they will be depending once again on the Black electorate to pass the bond.  But this time Black political leaders will be under the media microscope.  This time the mantra “no development; no vote” had better be on the lips of the Black political leaders or we will be looking, again, for new Black political leadership.  At least that is how I see it from South of the Trinity. 

Comments (34)

Comment	smaller | bigger
Name
Write the displayed characters
Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.
	Add Comment