Context as 40%3. The average adjusted gross income for this community as of 2012 was $27,382 in comparison to the state’s average $65,384. In 2012, businesses in the area reported a net gain of $4,854 in comparison to the state average of $13,732 representing an economy that lags compared to the state as a whole. Schools There is a disproportionately high number of Dallas Independent School District (DISD) schools surrounding the Forest Theater. This high density of schools is both a remnant of segregation and the high amount of vacant land. Historically, the community of 75215 sat at the geographical border of segregation.4 Just across the highway from the theater sits Billy Earl Dade Middle School, which serves as the middle school for the neighborhood’s feeder pattern (including MLK, Oran Roberts, Dunbar, Charles Rice, and Rhoads elementary campuses). The neighborhood high school is Madison High School, historically designated as a white-only school. In all, these feeder pattern schools serve nearly 5,000 students. In addition to the feeder pattern, there are two additional magnet schools in the immediate vicinity of the theater. Lincoln High School now serves as a magnet school. It was historically designated for Black and Spanish-speaking students, and was built in response to overcrowding at Booker T. Washington High School. There is also an all-girls magnet school, Irma Lerma Rangel, adjacent to Fair Park at the eastern edge of the community. Our team discovered that the Black population in DISD fell by approximately one third, or 20,000 students, from 2000 to 2010. This left the Black population in Dallas ISD schools at the lowest it has been since segregation. This change was concentrated
specifically in South Dallas. A Dallas Morning News article identified a list of reasons contributing to this exodus, including “race, class, perception of South Dallas, and home ownership in nearby suburbs,” and families in search of better schools for their children. This exodus, known as “Black Flight”,5 led families away from South Dallas into suburbs like Garland, Forney, Grand Prairie, and other nearby cities like DeSoto where people of color make up the majority of residents are often referred to as majority-minority cities.6 As of the 2018-19 school year, Dallas ISD reported that their feeder patterns near the theater serve 64% Black and 34% Latinx students, and nearly 95% come from lowincome homes.7 Churches Our research identified over 20 churches in the 75215 zip code alone. Churches were a vital part of the civil-rights movement, provided a place for the community to come together, served as shelter, and allowed congregants to be spiritually fed. For instance, the historical Mount Olive Lutheran Church, located on Martin Luther King Boulevard less than a mile from the Forest Theater, served as headquarters for
Above: Map of Churches (Map by: Google) Opposite: Madison High School. (Photo by: Ginnie Roark)
9