Dallas Black housing: Past, present and future

(The Dallas Examiner) – A community discussion on the state of Black housing in Dallas, hosted by the NAACP, was held July 25 at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center. The discussion was centered around the past, present and future of Black neighborhoods and Black homeownership. Dr. J. Ester Davis of The Ester Davis Show was the moderator and led by a group of three panelists – Sheila Lucas, Betty Culbreath and Dr. Sharon Middlebrooks.Lucas, president of the Dallas chapter of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, addressed the first question presented to the panel – what was the state of housing for the Dallas Black population in the past? She began by highlighting the plight of Black real estate professionals – specifically, that Black people were at one time prohibited from holding the title of realtor.Related Stories “If you noticed, I did say realtists because we were formed in 1947. And the reason is because NAR,” which was the National Association of realtors, Lucas explained, “would not let us be realtors. So we had to start calling ourselves realtists.”At the same time, she revealed that Black homebuyers were also facing discrimination. Redlining was a practice that was enacted...