Dallas Residents of Historic District Sue to Halt Demolitions, Obtain Resources to Save Homes

DALLAS, Texas – At a time when quality, affordable housing for low-income people is at a premium in Dallas, residents of one of the few remaining intact Freedmen’s Towns in the nation are fighting to save their homes and their neighborhood from “aggressive demolition” by the city and have filed a federal lawsuit alleging numerous violations of the Fair Housing Act.

The plaintiffs are long-time residents and property owners in the Tenth Street Historic District, all of whom claim to be negatively affected by Dallas’ aggressive demolition of historic homes and the chronic neglect of public infrastructure through lack of repair. The Tenth Street Historic District, settled by freed slaves in the post‑Civil War era and located just south of Downtown Dallas, is one of a few remaining Freedmen’s Towns in the U.S. and the most intact district of the 12 on the National Register of Historic Places. The City of Dallas recently threatened to remove the neighborhood’s historic district status.

“Tenth Street homeowners are concerned about the city’s decision to pursue demolition as opposed to less drastic options that would preserve their homes, such as assisting them with obtaining home repair funds,” says Jorge Jasso, an attorney with Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas’ Community Revitalization Project team. Legal Aid and Daniel & Beshara, P.C., filed the lawsuit on January 24 against the City of Dallas on behalf of their client, the Tenth Street Residential Association (TSRA), a group of homeowners and residents in the Tenth Street Historic District. TSRA maintains that residents and homeowners have been harmed by the city’s racially disparate rate of demolitions in their neighborhood, causing blight in the once peaceful neighborhood that has led to an uptick in crime and forced some residents with children to leave the neighborhood.

“Crime in the area has increased because of the demolitions and people leaving the neighborhood,” says long-time resident and homeowner Patricia Cox. “The vacant structures allow people to sneak in and live there unseen. I constantly worry what will happen to me and my family. If I lose my home, where will I go?”

Another resident worries about the neighborhood’s future. “Because of the demolitions, children had to be transferred to another school because they couldn’t walk through the neighborhood,” says Shaun Montgomery. “That has had a lasting impact on the viability of the neighborhood.” Among other things, the lawsuit seeks permanent injunctions aimed at preserving and protecting the historic district in the same way the city has protected its other historic districts. “Dallas’ aggressive demolition program in the Tenth Street area, when compared to the treatment of nonminority historic districts, amounts to the intentional eradication of the Tenth Street Historic District, one of the last remaining intact Freedmen’s Towns in the nation,” says Jasso.