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cbg_reads's review against another edition
5.0
I’ve been searching for this book since I heard an interview with William Jackson Harper about the play he wrote based on it, but until recently this 1980’s look at structural racism in Dallas has been out of print. With @deepvellum ‘s reprinting, I finally had a chance to dig in to the history of my city a bit more.
Starting with a string of bombings targeting Black residents in white neighborhoods in South Dallas, Schutze tells the engaging and damning story of how Dallas navigated the Civil Rights movements of the 50s and 60s. Instead of following the footsteps of their southern neighbors as they desegregated, Dallas relied on back room deals between the various business interests of the region in a way that helped Dallas miss much of the violence seen in other cities, but all at the expense of real change for the city’s Black residents.
An absolute necessity of a read for anyone who lives in the DFW region or Texas as a whole, Schutze’s book shines a glaring light on the parts of itself Dallas would prefer remained hidden. My only wish is that the reprint included more information about Dallas in the post-1980s eras. The city did erupt in the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and I think an update at looking at the special accommodation of Dallas is long overdue.
An excellent nonfiction read that I highly recommend
Starting with a string of bombings targeting Black residents in white neighborhoods in South Dallas, Schutze tells the engaging and damning story of how Dallas navigated the Civil Rights movements of the 50s and 60s. Instead of following the footsteps of their southern neighbors as they desegregated, Dallas relied on back room deals between the various business interests of the region in a way that helped Dallas miss much of the violence seen in other cities, but all at the expense of real change for the city’s Black residents.
An absolute necessity of a read for anyone who lives in the DFW region or Texas as a whole, Schutze’s book shines a glaring light on the parts of itself Dallas would prefer remained hidden. My only wish is that the reprint included more information about Dallas in the post-1980s eras. The city did erupt in the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and I think an update at looking at the special accommodation of Dallas is long overdue.
An excellent nonfiction read that I highly recommend
stubbornbones's review against another edition
5.0
[Read the new edition from Deep Vellum]
Really good context for a recently transplanted Northerner living in Dallas and overall a good set of insights into the psyche of the city. Very much a slice of its time.
Really good context for a recently transplanted Northerner living in Dallas and overall a good set of insights into the psyche of the city. Very much a slice of its time.
sparklefarm's review
5.0
(Read for the "Big D Reads" initiative.) Although I've lived in the Dallas area for the majority of my life, this history of tokenist accommodation to Black residents was all completely new to me. (I mean, but not surprising.) I knew about the Klan revival in the 1920s and could guess about the general racist atmosphere of the midcentury. But seeing all that, along with the foot-dragging of Dallas leaders, plainly documented was astonishing. Although this book was written in 1987 and has not been revised, the threads leading to present-day Dallas are obvious. This is a must-read for Dallasites.
steve_brinson's review against another edition
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.25
Unabashedly partisan (in the sense of devoted to its perspective and the figures who share it rather than a political party per se), which is not necessarily a bad thing, in this context. Very journalistic, which is in keeping, because Schutze is a journalist by trade.
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