Dallas County joined a growing number of local and state governments this week declaring racism a public health emergency.
The five-member body on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution sponsored by Commissioner John Wiley Price, a Democrat who has long represented southern Dallas County. Price, known for decades as a provocateur, said the swift passage of the resolution — which demands that the county adopt policies that will measurably improve the lives of black and brown residents — is a measurable shift.
Dallas County, one of the nation’s 10 largest, is likely the most populous local government to adopt such a resolution so far.
“I’m watching this county progress,” Price said, recounting how it once took him more than a year in the 1980s to pass a resolution demanding that the county divest from South Africa, a movement in response to the country’s apartheid system.
“I’m glad we don’t wait around in the civil rights movement waiting for consensus from other individuals. Someone has to take the initiative to continue to forge what is right.”
“It takes leadership and policy to make sure we change the paradigm,” he said.
Price’s resolution highlights stubborn and stark disparities among the county’s white, black and brown communities.
According to the U.S. census, the resolution says, Dallas County’s black residents are more likely to be unemployed, live in poverty and in neighborhoods with low-performing schools. The county’s population of 2.6 million is 22% black, 41% Hispanic and nearly 30% white.
Those disparities have long been defined by geography, with most of the county’s poverty concentrated in southern Dallas where African Americans and Latinos live. A recent report by the Parkland Health and Hospital System found that the county’s five unhealthiest ZIP codes are south of Interstate 30, which bisects the community between north and south.
According to The Pew Charitable Trusts, at least two dozen governments, including Indiana’s Marion County and Ohio’s Franklin and Summit counties, have or are considering similar resolutions. Other state and local governments are rapidly rethinking their policies in light of ongoing national protests.
Tuesday’s vote, which faced no public opposition, stands in stark contrast to the uproar and potential recall of La’Shadion Shemwell, a McKinney City Council member who last year declared a “Black State of Emergency.”
Dallas County commissioners also adopted a resolution that urges local law enforcement officers to better use a 2007 law that allows them to “cite and release” individuals committing low-level misdemeanors. The resolution’s sponsor, Republican J.J. Koch, said the resolution will be used to leverage conversations and contracts between the county and police departments.
“This is something we’ve talked about before and something we need to do,” said Koch, who represents northern Dallas County.
Local activists said before this week’s meeting that the resolutions were nice platitudes, but they were waiting to see whether the county would systematically change policy to reflect their priorities. Commissioners acknowledged the resolutions were nonbinding and more work needed to be done.
“We have not reached the point where we can say inequities have been addressed and no longer exist in the county,” said Commissioner Theresa Daniel, a Democrat who represents central and eastern Dallas County. “But the commitment is there.”
