Dallas City Council members hurled accusations of racism at a heated meeting late Wednesday night concerning proposed charter amendments that could end up on the November ballot.
Council Member Omar Narvaez (District 6) criticized a request to strike a proposed amendment that would allow noncitizens to serve on City boards and commissions.
“Say the truth, say the truth,” he yelled at the meeting. “If you hate us, tell us. That’s for anybody who cannot tell the truth. Because this is for real. Yes, this will probably go down and will probably not pass, but you got to give us a chance because it’s not right for the majority to vote on the rights of the minority.”
He continued his remarks with a declaration that “change is coming.”
“We’ll eventually get them,” he said. “We’ll eventually get them because we’re growing. Our young people are turning 18 at a record number, and they’re voting. And one day, it will pass. So you can have your little victories this year, this election, but the change is coming, and you’re not going to like it because people don’t forget the way they were treated.”
The local activist group Keep Dallas Safe posted on its X account, “Councilman @VoteOmarNarvaez seemingly criticizes democracy tonight at the City Council meeting. … What did he mean by this?”
Narvaez did not respond to a request for comment.
Another proposed charter amendment also sparked inflammatory comments regarding race. Somehow, a discussion having to do with how the City should effectively issue notices to Dallas’ diverse populations prompted Council Member Carolyn King Arnold to attack Gov. Greg Abbott.
She claimed Abbott’s policies aim to “bring Jim Crow back.”
“The hands of the clock will turn back while you’re watching,” she said. “Look what the governor of our state is trying [sic] to take us back and kill diversity. And so when you have those actions against humanity, he’s lying and kicking. He’s trying to bring Jim Crow back.”
“And if we don’t stay woke on this thing, you can think everybody coming forth will do the right thing, but if you don’t hold their hands and feet to the fire, we’ll be back to the days where we will have to sit in the back of the bus,” she claimed.
Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesperson for Abbott, dismissed Arnold’s attacks.
“Governor Abbott has made it clear that in Texas, people are given the opportunity to advance based on talent and merit,” he told The Dallas Express. “DEI efforts adversely affect our students, limit exposure to diverse thought, and destroy our education system. Aspiring to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream, we should not be judged by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character.”
Arnold did not respond to a request for comment.
The council members’ race-conscious remarks were made during a marathon hours-long meeting in which the Dallas City Council considered dozens of proposed charter amendments — some proposed by City officials, others stemming from citizen-led petitions. The latter are required by law to appear on the ballot if the requisite number of signatures are collected.
Council members backtracked during the meeting, reversing efforts by City officials to manipulate ballot language on some of the citizen-driven charter amendment proposals, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. If approved by voters, the amendments would bolster the under-staffed Dallas Police Department and empower citizens to better hold their leaders accountable.