DALLAS — After a "slap in the face" and street signs coming down, a road honoring a Dallas civil rights icon has been renamed in his honor for the second time in 29 years.
“It was Mahatma Gandhi who reminded us that there are two days in the year that we can do nothing. That’s yesterday and tomorrow,” said one local pastor before the City Council Wednesday.
In 1995, Texas legislators renamed three miles of South Central Expressway in South Dallas to S.M. Wright Freeway. It was named after the late Civil Rights leader and People’s Missionary Baptist Church Pastor, Rev. Dr. S.M. Wright. “It's because of the legacy of my late father. He is loved here in Dallas,” said S.M. Wright II, Wright’s son.
The southern Dallas portion of the expressway is the first freeway named after an African American. State Senator Royce West (District 23) authored that bill, which was signed by, then-Governor George W. Bush. After 29 years of the freeway being renamed, the city hit a surprising road bump. “Little did we know that that process wasn’t fully completed and that there were things that needed to be done here at the City of Dallas,” said West, Texas State Senator.
In May, the city council learned that back in the 1990s, council members did not properly complete the paperwork to rename the freeway. As a result, the signs came down. “Naturally, you’re upset and trying to find out what happened,” said S.M. Wright II.
Due to the city’s error, the Dallas Street Grid Information System (GIS) did not show S.M. Wright either. “I wondered how did it happen because I was there when they first dedicated the freeway, right on the corner of Pine and Central Expressway,” said Dr. C.J.R. Phillips of St. Phillips Missionary Baptist Church.
“An oversight like this wouldn’t have happened to a lot of those other names that exist,” said Adam Bazaldua, Dallas City Council District 7.
Council members quickly began fixing the problem. Now, three months later, they unanimously voted to properly rename the freeway.
“It spoke volumes because the council was filled to its capacity today because of people's concern about central Expressway being back to S.M.,” said Phillips.
“This is why this needed to happen when it happened to remind us that the fight is not over,” said Bazaldua.
Advocates said it is a fight done the “Wright” way.
“It's just the respect for a legend. He is a legend that worked with so many of our legendary legislators, elected officials and the business community. He has touched so many lives through the preaching, through his civic work, through his charity work, and it shows. That's why everybody is here today, and we continue the legacy.”
The signs in South Dallas along South Central Expressway have been replaced with “S.M. Wright Freeway.”