A new historical marker is in the works after the original plaque —commemorating the 1910 lynching of a Black man in downtown Dallas — was vandalized.
The sign on the marker in Pegasus Plaza was removed and cut in half, said Edward Gray, president of the Dallas County Justice Initiative and board member at Remembering Black Dallas. Only its base remains.
“It's disappointing because whoever took the pains of shearing off the historical marker did a great job of it,” he said. “They knew exactly what they were doing because it's cut off exactly at the base.”
The marker was installed at the corner of Main and Akard in 2021 to remember Allen Brooks, who was lynched by a mob at the Dallas County Courthouse ahead of his trial for the alleged assault of a young girl.
The marker will either be completely redone or sent to the organization that originally built it – the Equal Justice Initiative in Alabama — for an exact replica, Gray said.
The Dallas Police Department said an investigation into the damaged city property is ongoing, but it’s not being treated as a hate crime. There are no known suspects. The damaged plaque is now in the possession of Park and Recreation.
Gray wanted the plaque to be up by Juneteenth, but manufacturing delays will slow that down. He said he wants a new marker on display as soon as possible because history isn’t something that should be forgotten, he said – it's something that should be told.
“In the United States we are victims of whitewashing as well as brainwashing and this is what this story is about,” he said. “This story is about making sure that it is not told as Black history, it is not told as Texas history, but it is told as American history."
Gray said justice will always rise to the top.
“It's sort of like when you're planting a tree. Sometimes you need to move the tree so it could get more deeply rooted,” he said. “We shall not be moved. But we are deeply rooted and justice is deeply rooted.”
Olla Mokhtar is KERA’s news intern. Got a tip? Email Olla at omokhtar@kera.org.
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