Aug. 15, 2017: A day that will live in infamy

I wasn’t actually certain whether to put a black mark on Aug. 15 or 16, given that the vote was taken just after midnight. In any case, the deed is done. A five-member majority of the Fort Worth City Council voted to abandon one-third of our city’s population and open wide our doors to the neo-Nazi white supremacists who wreaked so much havoc in Charlottesville last weekend.

Councilman Brian Byrd stated that joining the lawsuit was nothing but symbolism, and he was right.

All human communication is symbolism — whether written or spoken, words or actions. In this instance the actions of the five appeasers was cacophonous in drowning out the spoken claims of “compassion” and “I hate racism” regarding our threatened and rightfully frightened neighbors. And it was a warm welcome to those bigots and haters seeking to establish a beachhead from which to launch their assault on civility. Actions always speak louder than words.

Members I spoke to before the vote asked the same question: “What benefit will joining this lawsuit bring?”

It was the wrong question.

The right question was, “What reason is there to not join the lawsuit, along with the five largest cities in Texas, and other counties and towns?”

They didn’t ask themselves that question because it is a question with no answer. None. There is and was no morally defensible reason to abstain from joining the lawsuit.

Mayor Betsy Price and every member I spoke to claimed to abhor Senate Bill 4. It is bad legislation, they said.

They were right.

It heavily impinges on local control. It engenders mistrust between the Latino community and the police who are sworn to protect it. It infringes on the free speech and autonomy of local government and individual members. It is unconstitutionally vague. It lays the groundwork for racial profiling and other discrimination. It adds monetary and manpower burdens on local law enforcement, while placing them in the unconstitutional role of enforcing immigration laws, which are the sole responsibility of the federal government.

What it doesn’t do is secure our borders, enhance public safety, strengthen our community, enhance the quality of life or the public image of our city. Quite the opposite.

In a work session earlier in the day there was much talk of tourism and PIDs and strengthening our image and exposure. This vote just voided any possibility of that.

Our city could have been at peace this morning, proud, like we were when then Councilman Joel Burns drew national attention for his stand against bullying; proud like we were when the police and council rallied around the LGBT community after the Rainbow Lounge debacle; proud as we were to gain distinction as the most cyclist-friendly city in North Texas. Instead, we’ve awakened to a city unnecessarily, and perhaps irreparably, divided. And the culprits are recorded for posterity.

Mayor Price, councilmen Byrd, Cary Moon, Jungus Jordan and Dennis Shingleton — your “symbolism” is loud and clear. You could have taken a purely “symbolic” action that would have placed us in the pantheon of Texas’ great cities, at no cost to the taxpayer, and demonstrated that you truly care for and represent all the residents of Fort Worth. Instead you chose to kowtow to a vocal minority of angry frightened white seniors. It was a cold and self-serving political calculation — shortsightedly pandering to a cohort that admittedly votes reliably.

But hear this: fully one-third of Fort Worth residents are Latino. Twelve percent are African-American. Sixty percent are between 18 and 65.

You may consider this a victory, but it was Pyrrhic at best. This is a war you will not win.

This story was originally published August 18, 2017 at 5:30 PM with the headline "Aug. 15, 2017: A day that will live in infamy."