Civil Rights in the "City of Hate:" Grassroots Organizing against Police Brutality in Dallas, Texas, 1935-1990

Abstract

This dissertation examines the history of grassroots organizing against police brutality in Dallas, Texas, between 1935 and 1990. It demonstrates that police brutality drove conversations among black and brown activists in their fight for social justice. Organizers understood that acquiring political power and eliminating all forms of discrimination were central to curtailing police violence. Class differences, however, often drove wedges among activists, but the issue of police brutality united African Americans and Mexican Americans, prompting them to form broad alliances in their shared struggle for police accountability. Confronting state-sanctioned violence then mobilized activists to engage in additional avenues of protest, including voting rights, access to housing and jobs, and social welfare reform.