More than a third of Dallas residents feel that they are treated differently because of their race or ethnicity, according to a new poll published Friday.
Of the 500 respondents who took part in the citywide poll, 177, or about 35%, said their race or ethnicity affects how they are treated in the city. Of that group, Black, Hispanic or Latino respondents mostly said they were treated worse because of their race or ethnicity, and white respondents mostly said they were treated better.
The poll was conducted June 6-9 by Suffolk University Political Research Center and has a margin of error plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
“In Dallas, like many other major cities, people of color feel that their race causes them to be treated worse than white people,” said David Paleologos, director of the political research center.
About 74% of the 61 white respondents who said they are treated differently said they are treated better because of their race.
Comparatively, about 85% of the 55 Black respondents and 60% of the 50 Hispanic or Latino respondents who said they are treated differently because of their race or ethnicity said they are treated worse.
Thirty-three respondents identified themselves as either American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian, two or more races, or other. Four respondents declined to identify their race or ethnicity.
The published summary of poll results accurately reflects the demographic proportions of Dallas residents according to census data, Paleologos said.
More than 13% of respondents said they were victims of crimes motivated by bias against race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability.
“These kinds of victimization surveys, even the ones that aren’t perfect, are incredibly useful because you’re going to find a lot of people who say they’ve been victimized,” said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University in San Bernardino. A survey might not yield precise results about hate crime, but “it’s a good contemporaneous measure of intergroup aggression.”
From January to May this year, the Dallas Police Department reported 12 hate crimes, compared to 14 during the same time period last year, according to Texas Department of Public Safety data. Despite the decrease, Levin said hate crime reports can swell during the second half of presidential and midterm election years.
“In 2018 we actually saw significant declines in the first part of the year that were completely turned around during the summer,” Levin said. “The increases tend to correlate with whatever hot-button issues are trending both online and in politics.”
Daisy Castañeda, 38, a senior fire prevention officer for Dallas Fire-Rescue who lives in Oak Cliff, said she has seen people treated differently because of their race or ethnicity.
Although she has not been a victim of what state and federal laws define as a hate crime, Castañeda said she has experienced hate because of her sexual orientation.
About six years ago at a professional sporting event in North Texas, Castañeda said, a stadium employee asked her and her girlfriend to leave because they were kissing in the stands.
“I was there with about 20 people and they were up in arms, but I said, ’Let’s just go; it’s not worth it,’” Castañeda said.
Since then, Castañeda said, she feels she has to be more aware of her surroundings when she is with her partner in public.
Although she thinks the city has become more tolerant toward the LGBTQ community, Castañeda said there is much room for improvement.
About 62% of poll respondents said they spend most of their time with people who are racially or ethnically different from themselves.
Hartense Ratling, 60, an African American woman in south Oak Cliff who participated in the survey, said racism and inequities still exist in the city but added that she has seen more tolerance among younger generations.
Poll results supported Ratling’s observation.
More than half of the 311 people who said they spent a significant amount of time with people from different backgrounds are between the ages of 18 and 44. In comparison, of the 143 respondents who said they spend most of their time with those who identify as their same race or ethnicity, 93 people (65%) are older than 44.
Ratling said she hopes to see greater interaction and engagement among people of different backgrounds in Dallas.
“I’m a collage of the different people that I hang with,” Ratling said. “You learn a lot more about yourself and the people that you are around. To me, I think you need to be more open.”
This survey of 500 residents of Dallas, Texas was conducted June 6 – to June 9, 2022, and is based on live telephone interviews of adults 18 years of age or older, residing in all 14 city council districts in Dallas. Quota and demographic information – including gender, region, race, and age -- were determined from 2020 US Census and American Community Survey data, as well as Dallas redistricting information. Surveys were administered in English and Spanish. The margin of sampling error for results based on the total sample is +/- 4.4 percentage points. Error margins increase for smaller subgroups in the cross-tabulation document above. All surveys may be subject to other sources of error, including but not limited to coverage error and measurement error.
