Friends, We Are Very Disappointing

Central Dallas Ministries’ Larry James

Apologies for the radio silence, as our servers were being slammed for reasons known only to our Department of Interwebs. That out of the way, Central Dallas Ministries’ president and CEO Larry James is very bummed out by some Friends’ comments posted to this item from yesterday, regarding the busy Bridge and CDM’s Destination Home program designed to provide homes for the homeless. He notes in the comments:

What is being overlooked in the really hardnosed comments above is the fact that a very high % of our homeless neighbors are disabled, mentally ill and dealing with addictions. What we are finding is that when given a fresh opportunity in decent, well-managed housing, they rebound in amazing ways. I’d love to arrange a tour of our Destination Home initiative for anyone who is interested in learning more. I must say I find the lack of compassion very discouraging.

He’s not the only one bummed out by comments left on Unfair Park. White Metropolis: Race, Ethnicity, and Religion in Dallas, 1841-2001 author Michael Phillips is also discouraged by comments posted to last week’s item about Harvey Graff’s The Dallas Myth: The Making and Unmaking of an American City.

I am amazed at the amount of vitriol spewed by people who have not bothered to read the book. There seems to be an anti-intellectual bias here, that any scholarly examination of a subject has to be, by definition, boring and not connected to reality. This is perhaps why Dallas lags behind so many cities in terms of art and literature.

By the way, The Big Guy said that my book, “White Metropolis” caused “quite a ruckus with some UT alums.” Really? I have not heard this. Please fill me in.

Big Guy, and others, the floor’s all yours. Do not disappoint. –Robert Wilonsky