Just southeast of downtown lies the community of South Dallas, a collection of historic neighborhoods, each with a rich and revealing history of enduring resilience and sustained community in the face of systemic and violent oppression.
Deemed by some as the “forgotten soul” of our city, South Dallas was once a thriving, vibrant, and self-sufficient center of Black life in Dallas, home to landmark businesses and influential leaders.
Black residents settled in South Dallas as early as 1905, when it was home to a small but prominent Jewish community. With Jim Crow laws in full effect, Black families were extremely limited in where they could live and purchase land in the city; most settled in Dallas’ freedman’s towns of Freedman’s Town/North Dallas, Joppa, and Tenth Street after emancipation. The early 1900s saw the emergence of South Dallas’ first Black neighborhoods including Wheatley Place, Mill City, and Queen City.
As their numbers grew in the area, Black residents were met with fierce and violent resistance by their white counterparts. Starting in the 1920s and extending several decades, Black families in South Dallas endured strings of violent bombing attacks on their homes. This continued until 1951, when a grand jury was finally convened and one individual faced trial. Although no one was ultimately held accountable, the trial had a chilling effect on the perpetrators, and the bombings subsided.
In the 1930s, much of South Dallas was redlined by the federal Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) and deemed “hazardous” for investment, which would contribute to decades of neighborhood disinvestment and decline.
In the 1960s and ‘70s, the city used eminent domain to seize land owned by Black homeowners adjacent to Fair Park to expand the fairgrounds and construct more parking lots so that white, middle-class visitors would be more comfortable when they attended the fair once a year.
As Dallas’ population grew after the end of World War II and as hundreds of Black residents in Freedman’s Town/North Dallas were displaced by the construction of Central Expressway in the 1940s, more Black families made their way to South Dallas, precipitating a flight of white and Jewish families to the northern suburbs.
Over the next few decades, the area experienced a series of ill-intentioned public policy decisions meant to further divide and separate South Dallas’ Black residents from the rest of the city. In the 1950s, Interstate 30 was routed through South Dallas, cutting it off from the economic lifeline of the urban core and solidifying the North/South divide of Dallas’ racial segregation. The highway’s construction also meant the end of the city’s streetcar system, upon which South Dallas residents relied to access jobs and essential services. Then, in the 1960s and ‘70s, the city used eminent domain to seize land owned by Black homeowners adjacent to Fair Park to expand the fairgrounds and construct more parking lots so that white, middle-class visitors would be more comfortable when they attended the fair once a year.
Nearly 300 South Dallas families were displaced, with Black homeowners receiving substantially less compensation than their white counterparts, resulting in a significant loss of wealth for many first-time homeowners. In the decades following, South Dallas would continue to experience ongoing disinvestment and steady population decline.
These past injustices have had very real, harmful, and lasting impacts on the Black residents and communities of South Dallas – impacts that continue to be felt by South Dallas residents.
The intentional targeting and dismantling of Black communities through explicitly racist public policies and private acts have created overwhelming barriers to housing, aresidents and neighborhoods especially vulnerable to present-day displacement pressures.
Today, South Dallas is on the precipice of change as new development interests set their sights on the area due to current and anticipated public investment projects in and around South Dallas neighborhoods. In 2018, the City Council voted to privatize Fair Park and awarded the management contract to Fair Park First, a newly formed nonprofit that vowed to preserve and revitalize the 277-acre site, including plans to reclaim and convert 18 acres of parking lot space back into a community park. Four years later, Dallas voters approved a 2% increase in the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax to fund construction of a brand-new convention center downtown and up to $300 million for Fair Park renovations. In 2021, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) announced plans to bury I-30 from downtown to East Dallas, a move intended to reconnect streets and communities. The state has already allocated over $500 million to the anticipated $1.02 billion project that includes a potential deck park. Smaller projects are in the works as well, including $22 million for infrastructure improvements for Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and an extension of the Santa Fe Trail. These investments, coupled with South Dallas’ proximity to downtown and other high-value neighborhoods like the Cedars and East Dallas, catch the eye of speculative investors. Developers in the area, both old and new, are already anticipating the increased value of their holdings.
Legacy residents, on the other hand, are bracing for impact. Median home sale prices and rents in the area have soared over the last decade, placing an incredible burden on low-income residents, especially those on fixed incomes. Many residents and community leaders worry that the worst is yet to come.
Reverend Donald R. Parish Sr., the Senior Pastor of True Lee Missionary Baptist Church since 1992, has witnessed these changes firsthand. “My congregation once lived within walking distance of our church, but many have been forced to move to the outskirts of the city due to increasing property taxes, rising rents, and a lack of affordable homes for purchase,” he shares. Reverend Parish Sr. has observed the shifting demographics in South Dallas and is vocal about his concern for residents on fixed incomes, questioning their capacity to keep up with swiftly rising housing costs.
In response, parish members are increasingly turning to the church’s food pantry to help cover living expenses. Reverend Parish Sr. hopes that local policymakers will prioritize programs like property tax relief and home repairs for South Dallas seniors, allowing them to age in place without fear of being displaced.
Despite these enduring challenges, South Dallas remains a stronghold of Black culture and community in Dallas. Residents and neighborhood leaders continue to advocate for equitable and restorative community development and look favorably upon projects that strive to meet that vision – projects like the restoration of the historic Forest Theater, reconstruction of the Park South YMCA, and pedestrian-centered improvements along MLK Jr. Blvd.
Ensuring that South Dallas’ legacy of resilience endures for generations to come requires a continued and steadfast commitment to community-oriented developments like these, projects that prioritize resident needs and desires including affordable housing, healthcare, economic development, and historic and cultural preservation. Present day development pressures are creating a perfect storm for gentrification and displacement in South Dallas, and we must tread carefully with every step we take as a city in order to make sure we protect and empower South Dallas residents and neighborhoods by ensuring that future development is equitable, inclusive, restorative, and sustainable.
“My congregation once lived within walking distance of our church, but many have been forced to move to the outskirts of the city due to increasing property taxes, rising rents, and a lack of affordable homes for purchase.”
-Reverend Donald R. Parish Sr.
A Right To Stay
For South Dallas and neighborhoods with similar profiles, we recommend the following anti-displacement strategies:
Public Land for Affordable Housing Policy
Shared Equity Housing Models
Anti-Displacement Homebuyer Assistance Programs
Neighborhood Stabilization Voucher Program
