When African-American activists initiated their recent protest at a school board meeting in this city, Ernest Pena had reached his limit. Echoing the sentiments of other local Latino activists, he called out from the back of the auditorium that the protesters were no different from the Ku Klux Klan. Aaron Michaels, a leader of the Dallas chapter of the New Black Panther Party, was not willing to accept that comment quietly. He approached Mr. Pena and demanded that the Hispanic parent repeat his statement, using offensive language along the way. Chaos ensued as board President Bill Keever pounded the gavel and school police intervened. A school custodian allegedly involved in the scuffle was taken away in handcuffs and subsequently charged with assaulting a security guard.
Similar to clashes between sports fans in the arena, the confrontation on February 11 was an extension of a larger issue. In this city, race has consistently been an underlying matter on every school board agenda. Tensions have escalated in recent months as heated exchanges between black activists, the board, and the superintendent repeatedly brought business to a standstill, resulting in negative attention for the nation’s tenth-largest school system. The school board gained national coverage in May when three members of the New Black Panther Party were wrestled to the ground and arrested for defying Mr. Keever’s orders to sit down. They threatened to return armed with firearms, but this never came to pass. However, it wasn’t until this month that members of opposing factions actually engaged in physical altercations. Now that this threshold has been crossed, many observers predict two possible outcomes: either individuals will calm down and civility will prevail, or the situation could escalate into something exceptionally ugly.
The root cause of this unrest can be traced back to deep-seated issues. Racial tension has been a constant reality in education politics here since the 1950s when the district began the gradual process of desegregating schools. Dallas managed to avoid the overt turmoil experienced by other cities in the 1960s and 1970s, but it doesn’t mean that race relations were harmonious. "The segregation in Dallas was among the ugliest in any city," stated Sandy Kress, a prominent white lawyer who served as the school board president for two years. "There is a significant amount of justified anger within the African-American community due to that lengthy history." Apart from this historical legacy, the recent unrest is fueled by several more immediate factors. One of them is the impending end of a twenty-five-year-long federal oversight of the district’s desegregation efforts. In July 1994, U.S. District Judge Barefoot Sanders declared that the lawsuit would be dismissed in three years if the district made sincere efforts to comply with his orders. Many whites and Hispanics argue that the case has funneled excessive resources to predominantly black schools. Conversely, black leaders fear losing these resources and criticize the district for failing to bridge the achievement gap between white and African-American students.
Kathlyn Gilliam, a veteran school board member for twenty-three years and arguably the most confrontational of the three black members, voiced these concerns during the February 11 meeting. She asked her fellow members, "What would you people do if you had free rein?" and emphasized that the court provided some form of restraint.
Another source of friction arises from the rapid growth of the city’s Hispanic population and the increasing pressure from Latinos to have more influence within the system. This school year, Latinos surpassed blacks as the largest ethnic group among the city’s 155,000 students. The student body is now 45.5 percent Hispanic and 41.5 percent black. Officials predict that within a decade, Latinos will outnumber blacks by a ratio of 2-to-1. Yvonne Gonzalez, the district’s first Hispanic superintendent, symbolizes this demographic shift. When she was appointed last month, the board’s three African-American members boycotted the vote, claiming that their colleagues had disregarded their perspectives and had not allowed other finalists a fair chance. Ms. Gonzalez perceives the criticism from certain activists as racially motivated and does not hesitate to confront them about it.
‘The Struggle for Resources: A Changing Dynamic in Dallas’
According to Glenn Linden, a history and education professor at Southern Methodist University and author of a recent book on the desegregation saga in the district, conflicts between different racial groups in Dallas are a relatively recent occurrence. In the past, African Americans and Hispanics worked together, but now there is a growing struggle over limited resources, with concerns among African Americans that they will lose what little resources they have.
Another point of contention is the composition of the school board itself. The three black members of the board feel that their voices have been consistently ignored by a shifting alliance between white and Latino trustees. The black members refer to this coalition as the "Slam Dunk Gang" because of their perceived practice of pushing through changes without consulting the minority group.
Tensions were further aggravated in 1995 when a white board member resigned after making racist remarks about blacks and disparaging comments about other groups. This incident, known as the "Racist, Sexist Remarks Put Dallas Board on Edge," created mistrust and exacerbated divisions within the board.
Yvonne Ewell, an African-American board member who joined ten years ago after working in an administrative role in the district, sees the situation as a power struggle. She believes that until the power dynamics are addressed and improved, there will never be good race relations. Ewell and other black leaders often portray the five white members of the board as puppets controlled by the city’s corporate elite. They argue that business leaders and their supposed allies on the board are attempting to control the system and its $1 billion budget, even though white enrollment has significantly decreased.
Many people are now advocating for an African-American board president, considering that 90 percent of the students in the district are minorities, yet the board is predominantly white. Lee Alcorn, the president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, points out that there are no school districts where 90 percent of the students are white and run by blacks.
John Kress, who became a board member in 1993 with a reform agenda developed by a citizens’ commission, attributes much of the hostility to the board’s subsequent reform efforts. According to him, the changes aimed to shift the system from one driven by politics and patronage to one focused on merit and accountability. However, these reforms caused disruptions and discontent, particularly among the African-American board members who often disagreed with the removal or demotion of administrators.
Cracking Down on Disruptions
Following the recent disrupted meeting, the board members have implemented a stricter code of conduct for citizens attending their gatherings. This revised policy prohibits certain tactics, such as approaching the speakers’ microphone in a group, standing in the aisles, and exceeding the three-minute limit for addressing the board. Violators will now be subject to removal and potential arrest by city police.
While some board members and school officials find reassurance in the unanimous approval of these new rules, Yvonne Ewell believes that their compliance should not be overstated. African-American activists make it clear that the rules will not deter them from raising their concerns.
Robert Williams, president of the local chapter of the New Black Panther Party, states that the new rules will have no impact. He and his black-bereted members, supported by other African-American groups like the NAACP, started attending board meetings last year and have successfully made their voices heard. Williams clarifies that his party is not directly affiliated with the original Black Panther Party from the 1960s and 1970s, but they maintain contact with other branches in different cities.
"They keep trying to silence us, but we won’t back down," Williams affirms. "We will continue to show up and fight for our rights."