As a community leader, pastor and lifelong resident of South Dallas, I am accustomed to being frustrated by systems that hinder our community’s ability to thrive.
In one ZIP code, a person may live five, ten, even 15 years longer than someone just a few blocks away — simply because of systemic barriers to health, safety and opportunity. These inequities are par for the course when you work in communities like South Dallas.
But let me be clear: The people of South Dallas are not defined by those barriers. We are the backbone of this city. Our labor, culture, history and resilience have enabled Dallas to prosper and stand tall as one of the nation’s leading cities. If South Dallas is vital to Dallas — and it is — then why are we so often told to wait? Why must we be patient for things that others in this city receive without hesitation?
We recently learned that city leaders are debating if Fair Park First should go forward with South Dallas Community Park after the nonprofit lost its contract to manage Fair Park.
Opinion
The proposed South Dallas Community Park is not just a park. It is an opportunity, an investment in a community that has carried this city on its shoulders for generations. And yet, time and again, as I sit around long wooden tables with the power brokers of the city, I hear phrases like “We want to get it right,” or “We just need to make sure everything is perfect.”
Let me tell you how those words sound to us. They do not sound like concern. They sound like another delay. They sound like the goalposts are moving yet again. They sound like “wait.”
Here is the truth: This park has been vetted more than almost any project in this city. It has been the subject of countless community meetings — I know, because I was there. It has been through multiple audits — I know, because I read them. It has been reviewed, discussed, debated and analyzed in boardrooms, council briefings and sidewalk conversations — I know, because I was part of them all.
So why are we still being asked to revisit old arguments? Why are we still debating contracts from years past, or rehashing disputes between developers and oilmen? Or yet another article citing past missteps. At this point, those are distractions. My message is simple: We are too close to turn around; let’s move forward.
This is not just about building a park. It is about honoring a promise. It is about writing a new chapter in the story of South Dallas, one that doesn’t end with “You have to wait.” Too often, that has been the refrain: Wait for investment, wait for opportunity, wait for fairness, wait for justice. This is my request to the Park Board, the city, our philanthropic institutions and the private sector: How many more times will you ask South Dallas to wait?
And yet, despite all of this, we remain hopeful and faithful. We believe Dallas will do right by its people. But faith without works is dead. We are willing to have conversations that are geared towards moving this park to completion. Yet the time for unproductive delays is over. It is time to deliver.
The Community Park is not just a collection of playground equipment, walking trails and trees. It is a symbol. It is an opportunity for the city to rewrite the narrative and walk alongside the community. It is an opportunity to build trust where it has been broken. It is an investment in health, safety, dignity and joy.
So I say to our leaders: Let’s move forward, let’s not sacrifice the good on the altar of perfection. Let’s honor the commitments made for South Dallas. Let’s give the children a place to play, the families a place to gather and the elders a place to rest under the shade of trees; they deserve as much as anyone in this city.
This moment is bigger than a park. It is about whether we choose to keep faith with one another, whether we choose to heal divides that have lasted too long, whether we choose to believe that the people of South Dallas deserve what every other community in Dallas takes for granted.
The answer should not be complicated. The answer should be yes. The time should not be later. The time should be now. Let’s move forward — together.
The Rev. Todd Atkins is the founder of the South Dallas-Fair Park Faith Coalition.
Part of our series on The Future of Fair Park. This essay discusses the need to move forward with the South Dallas Community Park.