Fort Worth, TX., (October 10, 2015) – The underlying cause of what happened in Ferguson, Mo. last year was the disenfranchisement of the Black population there. The last article I read about Ferguson indicated that the city government there was on the brink of going bankrupt. The reason is that the bulk of the city’s budget depended on fines unjustly levied against Blacks there. All of this came out after the Federal Justice Dept. investigation was concluded.
Does anyone think that if Blacks had been represented in the city’s government (the city council), where policies are enacted, those unjust policies would have been implemented? In the aftermath of Ferguson, the Federal Justice Department has selected five cities to conduct a thorough study. Fort Worth is one of those five cities selected.
Look, I love Fort Worth and have served on two boards for over twelve years. On one, the Disciplinary Appeals Board, I served as its chairman. I was a founder of my neighborhood association in 1989 and have served as an officer since then, mostly as president. I am on my twenty fifth year on Citizens on Patrol. And there is much more. Look, I am not saying all this to give myself a pat on the back, but to bring up a subject that the “powers that be” here in this city don’t want to hear and will go to great lengths to discredit: Hispanics in Fort Worth are disenfranchised. That’s the way it’s always been. I know because we’ve been trying to change that since after the 1990 census. After the 2000 and the 2010, we made a major push and gained some ground, but not enough.
With a nearly 35% Hispanic population in Fort Worth we have only one Hispanic on the city council now.
by Fernando Florez
Morningside Neighborhood Association Vice President,
CitizensMapFW.org Hispanic Outreach
reprinted with permission of author.