Editorial: A vein of optimism in Dallas attitudes on race

Dallas has been awash in aspirational conversations about racial justice and equality.

There’s been talk in fellowship halls. Conversations over dinner. Panel discussions in the Arts District and at southern Dallas high schools. Debates at the City Council horseshoe and the Dallas Country Club.

This newspaper has hosted our share of them as part of the seven-year-long “Bridging Dallas’ North-South Gap” project.

Could it be that these conversations are creating results? New research has exposed a vein of optimism when it comes to local racial attitudes.

The Embrey Family Foundation will release the official survey Thursday as the Facing Race national conference opens in Dallas.

By no means do survey participants think the discrimination battle is won, but they do believe that race relations will improve over the next five years. Latino residents expressed the most doubt, as they scramble to gain a foothold alongside their white and African-American counterparts.

Respondents agreed almost unanimously about why the city must crush discrimination: All children deserve a better future. Those surveyed see public school teachers as key players in moving Dallas forward on racial attitudes.

Police officers and elected leaders were also high on the list of public servants whom residents want to see lead the way. That’s not surprising, considering that respondents selected the criminal justice system and public education as the areas most affected by racism.

Residents also held themselves accountable, with 74 percent acknowledging that they have a responsibility to work individually against discrimination.

The survey is an excellent fire starter, one that’s sure to energize this week’s national conference and the local partnerships leading up to it.

Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice, the brain trust behind this biennial convention, doesn’t shy away from tough stuff. For instance, its “Shattered Families” report illuminated how deportations of parents have led to thousands of children being separated permanently from their families and placed in foster care.

The 1,600 Facing Race participants traveled here for a single reason: their commitment to racial equity. In the audience will be artists, academics, students, community organizers and staffers from nonprofit and for-profit operations of all sizes.

Among them will be many members of the Dallas Faces Race coalition, made up of local nonprofits that have worked with the Embrey Family Foundation and Boone Family Foundation for months to train and collaborate on behalf of racial justice.

Dallas participants are sure to come out of the workshops glowing with enthusiasm.

So what will happen after that?

This newspaper hopes the foundations and their 280-plus partners stir together conference experiences and survey results to create an advocacy project that will benefit the city with concrete goals and measurable results.

Dallas offers the Facing Race convention its first Southern perspective; perhaps soon the city will also provide a national model for racial justice innovation.