Editor’s Note: Ed Gray shared the following message via Facebook on Sunday. Later in the afternoon, while not directly referencing Gray’s Open Letter, City of Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings issued the statement below Ed’s letter. We have also included Mayor Pro Tem’s statement released on Monday.
Dear Mr. Mayor:
As the moral leader of our great city, it is incumbent on you to speak on the Deep Ellum tragedy.
Mr. Mayor, you have acted as if you were the moral compass of Dallas. You have spoken out on many of the ailments that have afflicted our city. Among these, you have lectured on the financial malfeasance of city council members in, as you refer to it, as the “southern sector.”
Mr. Mayor, you have lectured black men on abuse of their partners. Mr. Mayor, you rightfully said, “we all have failed” on “domestic violence.” You rightfully said the system failed Deanna Cook, as our city support system failed her. You have a track record of speaking out.
Today it is different. Austin Shuffield is a white man who assaulted a black woman. L Daijonique Lee was hit five times by this poor excuse of manhood. However, your “silence of the lambs” is the 6th punch.
Mr. Mayor, you owe it to the city of Dallas to speak out on this tragic hate crime. This is a hate crime directed not only against black people, but it is also a crime directed to women.
Mr. Mayor, please find your voice.
Push for upgraded criminal charges today.
Respectfully,
Ed Gray
Mayor Mike Rawlings via Facebook
“The video of the Deep Ellum assault last week horrified me. It is a brutal attack by a man on a woman, which is not acceptable under any circumstances. The role race played in this assault by a white man on a black woman must also be investigated.
I am confident that a thorough investigation is being conducted and that Chief Hall and District Attorney Creuzot will pursue the maximum charges justified under the law.”
Official Statement from the Office of The Mayor Pro Tem Casey Thomas
“I was appalled and upset when I saw the video of the brutal attack on a woman by Austin Shuffield, which occurred in Deep Ellum last week. As a man, there is NEVER a justifiable reason to hit a woman. As Mayor Pro Tem of the City of Dallas, this type of behavior will not be tolerated. Since a weapon (in this case a gun) was drawn in a threatening manner, the charges should be increased to a more serious charge. The fact that this male would punch a defenseless woman several times with the intent to injure should be enough to have him re-arrested and charged with a penalty that meets the severity of his actions. I have confidence that Dallas Chief of Police Reneé Hall and District Attorney John Creuzot will charge Mr. Shuffield at a level that fits this criminal behavior. Once again, we will not tolerate these actions in the city of Dallas.”
Ed Gray is a presidential scholar at Southern Methodist University. He is the host of The Commish Radio Show airing Saturdays 3-5 p.m. on FBRN.net, can be reached at eegray62@att.net. NDG was awarded NNPA’s 2018 Robert S. Abbott Best Editorial for Gray’s “Confederate Statues: The White Man’s Burden” column.
