Reflections of Dallas Past: Adapting to a changing city in the ‘40s and ‘50s

(Special to The Dallas Examiner) – As I reflect on my experiences living in Dallas, I am obliged to view them through the lenses of a Black person, adapting, along with the city and country, to changing times and events. Being the eighth child of nine of Wilmer O. and Ocie B. Gray, family ties and family support have always been important attributes as we individually and collectively navigated these changes. My parents were from small rural communities in southeast Texas, and they brought with them, as they journeyed toward Dallas, rural work ethics and a common approach sense to life. My siblings and I were the recipients of this lifestyle. They took an army barrack and made it into a house/home, upon arriving in West Dallas in the mid ‘40s. They had a Jersey cow from which we obtained milk and churned butter, chickens and a garden. Amenities such as indoor plumbing were not realized until we moved, house and all, to South Dallas in the early ‘50s. Related Stories As there were White families still living in the South Dallas neighborhood at that time, my first introduction to racial slurs became manifested. These incidents were followed by support...