The City of Dallas has scheduled five community meetings to gather public input on its plan to end Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DEI”) initiatives.
Dallas paused “DEI” programs in early August after officials warned the city risked losing $305 million in federal funding. City Manager Kim Tolbert said the move was about “survival” rather than ideology.
“We find ourselves at a crossroads requiring responsibility and resolve,” Dallas City Manager Kim Tolbert said, per Fox 4.
Democratic activists in Dallas expressed opposition to pausing the programs. One activist cited disparities between neighborhoods as evidence for maintaining “DEI”, saying, “When the life expectancy of a person living in 75215 is 22 years less than someone in 75204 and those zip codes are only separated by 1.1 miles at the nearest point, something is deeply wrong in our city.”
The meetings began August 26 at the Latino Cultural Center and will continue through September 9, concluding at the West Dallas Multipurpose Center.
Tolbert also announced that all municipal departments would stop factoring in national origin, color, gender, religion, or ethnicity when distributing city funds. The decision follows President Donald Trump’s federal rollback of DEI programs earlier this year.
Other North Texas cities have taken similar steps.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the Fort Worth City Council voted 7-4 this week to dissolve the city’s DEI department, citing possible risks to federal funding and growing public opposition.
That decision came amid a nationwide rollback of DEI initiatives under Trump. Fort Worth also considered suspending elements of its Business Equity Ordinance, which had provided incentives for minority- and women-owned businesses.