The City of Hate? Dallas, Texas

Perhaps it was because the Kennedy assassination was before my time, but I almost never associated the city with that event, even though I knew that it had occurred there. I guess the significance of the event having taken place in Dallas, of all places, was not lost on the country, and indeed, the world, at the time.

Growing up, there were definitely things that came to my kind when I thought of Dallas, but the Kennedy assassination was not one of them.

I remember the Dallas Cowboys, and the television program named after the city.

If anything, Dallas almost seemed to typify glitz and success. Some sunny place in good ole' Texas, and you better not mess with Texas, right?

It actually took me a long time to understand just how closely associated the city of Dallas was to the JFK assassination. Yes, the event had taken place there, but it could have taken place anywhere, right?

Actually, the impression many had was that it had happened in Dallas, specifically, for a reason. In the aftermath of the assassination, Dallas became know, apparently across the world, as the "City of Hate".

Why? Because there had been strong, vocal, and very visible opposition to Kennedy during that visit. There were posters that were reminiscent of "Wanted" posters from the days of the old, wild west around Dallas on that fateful day. These had two pictures of Kennedy in a mug shot format, one facing the camera, and one more of a profile, with the words just underneath:

WANTED FOR TREASON

Indeed, there was a lot of political extremism on display in Dallas on that day. You have to remember that these were still the days of legalized Jim Crow segregation, and Dallas was a mostly white city, with many supporters of segregation. But Jim Crow segregation, particularly legalized segregation, was under fire, and many of these supporters associated Kennedy as one of the men who wanted to put an end to it.

This was hate, and it gained attention on that day, even before Kennedy was assassinated.

But after the assassination? The whole city seemed to be blamed, and was placed under a microscope as a place of political and racial intolerance, of extremism, and violence.

Thus, the reputation as the "City of Hate", fair or not.

Dallas has struggled ever since to get out from under that shadow. The emergence of the flashy Dallas Cowboys helped. The television show helped. The city has changed, has modernized. It is now much more racially diverse, and whites now are a minority in Dallas. If it used to be an extremist white enclave back in 1963, it is now a city that votes solidly blue, in a state that generally votes solidly red.

The first impressions still linger, though. I remember being a bit surprised when, while reading Stephen King's "11/22/63", King seemed to harbor some resentments towards Dallas, and suggested that it still seemed like there was a lot of hate down there.

I have never been to Dallas, so I cannot say for sure, one way or the other.

But Dallas is still trying to change that image. To that end, for the first time ever, they actually officially acknowledged the event that they had tried to escape the shadow of this time around. On November 22nd, the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, the city held an event honoring JFK, which was televised nationally, and it was interesting.

How much has Dallas changed? Well, i cannot say for sure, never having been to Texas. Do you have any thoughts? Please do share!