Dallas Justice Now, a BLM-affiliated activism group, composed an open letter to Park Cities residents alleging the Park Cities Chatter Facebook group is a “tool of white supremacy.”
Dallas Justice Now is “dedicated to ending institutional racism and creating opportunities for the black community in the segregated city of Dallas,” according to their website.
The letter opens with explanations that the Park Cities Chatter Facebook Group is private, meaning its membership is invite-only. Its members are allegedly solely white residents of the Park Cities area.
The Facebook page describing the group explains that its purpose is to provide “An open forum for discussion of issues affecting the Park Cities. Membership is limited to current residents of Highland Park, University Park, and HPISD, and Dallas residents who have children enrolled in HPISD schools (at the discretion of the admins).”
The page administrators go on further to explain its affiliate Park City groups and express unaffiliated but recommended pages for specific services such as buying and selling in the area and lost pets pages.
In the letter, Dallas Justice Now asserts that the Facebook group “perpetuates racism and is a force keeping Dallas segregated.”
Ndure Cain, co-president of Dallas Justice Now, wrote in the letter, “Highland Park is not 0.3% black because of rednecks in pickup trucks with confederate flags or seething white supremacists with tiki torches as evil as both groups are. Instead, it is a white-only neighborhood because of a more subtle and far more pernicious type of racism. To get the best picture of it, just look at the Park Cities Chatter Facebook group available exclusively to Park Cities residents.”
The author of the letter goes on to express that, “the white-only forum assists white privileged people to further their privilege and keep out people of color.”
Each of these allegations is summarized in the sentiment expressed throughout the letter that, “Park Cities Chatter is a clear tool of white supremacy.”
The allegations of the letter predict that the offense of the Facebook group extends beyond the digital world.
Cain writes that “invite-only neighborhood groups like Park Cities Chatter have been around since the end of Jim Crow—formed initially to push homeowners not to sell to black families, therefore, denying us access to buy homes, build wealth, and send our kids to good schools.”
Park Cities Chatter, the Facebook group denounced by Dallas Justice Now, has been live and actively accepting members since 2016. The group is pretty active, with over 1,000 posts per month from its 6,298 members.
Park Cities Chatter as a group also has its supporters. Local podcasters Martha Jackson & Nellie Sciutto of the Bubble Lounge Podcast herald the Facebook group as “a wonderful place for [Park Cities residents] to keep up on all the important stuff.”
They even thanked the creators of Park City Chatter, Amy Genender & Jenni Scoggins: “On behalf of our community, we want to say thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to making Park Cities Chatter […] and also for providing lots of laughs. You are the best and we love what you’re doing, keep up the great work!”
