The Accommodation

The Politics of Race in an American City

By: Jim Schutze, John Wiley Price

Narrated by: Mike Rhyner, John Wiley Price

The powerful, long-repressed classic of Dallas history that examines the violent and suppressed history of race and racism in the city. Written by longtime Dallas political journalist Jim Schutze, formerly of the Dallas Times Herald and Dallas Observer and currently columnist at D Magazine, The Accommodation follows the story of Dallas from slavery through the civil rights movement and the city’s desegregation efforts in the 1950s and ‘60s.

Known for being an uninhibited and honest account of the city’s institutional and structural racism, Schutze’s book argues that Dallas’ desegregation period came at a great cost to Black leaders in the city. Now, after decades out of print and hand-circulated underground, Schutze’s book serves as a reminder of what an American city will do to protect the White status quo.

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Critic reviews

“One chapter of Texas’ civil rights legacy is opening back up. A long-suppressed book about politics and race in Dallas is growing in popularity.... The resurgence of The Accommodation is so important to so many.” (CBS This Morning Saturday)

“The Accommodation is one of the first major works about the history of race and racism in Dallas, and its importance to the counter narrative of ‘Dallas as a great city for all’ can’t be understated.... The telling of a Black story by a white author deserves continued critique and interrogation, however with The Accommodation, Jim Schutze delivered a must-read treatise about racism in Dallas that was both eye-opening and prophetic.” (Jerry Hawkins, executive director of Dallas Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation)

“One of the most sought after reads on how racism shaped this American city.... The book [takes] a critical view of both the white and the Black leaders, painting both sides as being complicit in laying the groundwork for how race relations the divisions in the city would play out in Dallas for decades to come.” (Sabra Ayres, Spectrum)

Mike Rhyner brings the book alive

I had read the Accommodation years ago, one of best historic books on Dallas. Hearing Dallas legend Mike Rhyner read the book brings it alive.

Listen up, Dallas

This is an intense history lesson. I bought the book and passed it on. Bought it again for on Audible because cause I needed to revisit.

Eye opening

Only moved to Dallas in early 2000s, but lived in Texas my whole life. It was interesting to listen to a dark but very real part of the city’s history.

Like It Is

Great read and listen! As a Dallasite, born and trained, such a powerful account of Dallas political history.

Things make sense now. All the wonderings have colorful answers for anyone willing to embrace the brutal truth about Dallas and its dance with powder keg politics.

Required reading in all Dallas educational institutions….

An Important Book

There are some things that we should never forget. The way black people were treated in North Texas is one of these. I grew up in Dallas in the 50s. I didn’t realize at the time how casual racism was everywhere- all the time.

Black men of a certain age called me “Mr. Bob” and it seemed okay.

I would have enjoyed an epilogue, but the book stands on its own.

I bought it because of Mike Rhyner’s recommendation. I’m glad I did.

An Unabashed Glimpse At the History of Dallas

Wonderful listen. Jim Schutze has told the compelling and uncomfortable history of Dallas with the sources and quotations to back it up. I would listen to Mike Rhyner tell a story, even one that isn’t his own, any day of the week. Well worth a listen if you are curious about the sordid history of Big D.

Enlightening Book

This book explains in honest terms why Dallas is the way it is racially. I am a fifth generation Dallasite and learned a great deal about my city I had no idea about. Read by the great Mike Rhyner of The Ticket radio station he helped found. Rhyner is a native Dallasite and student of it's history. I really loved this book and highly recommend it.

A Great Read

This book was amazing. It was telling the truth about DALLAS. DALLAS is racially divided in 2022, but there is more an economic classes.

Critical reading for anyone living in Dallas

I grew up here but didn't have this lens. I'm a Black Dallasite who grew up in southern Dallas, then went to private school in high school in North Dallas. The contrast was so stark. The why is important. Otherwise the stories we tell, the myths, create false beliefs about the people who live there. That's when even solutions can become dangerous - bad info in, bad conclusions reached, potential for continued harm persists.

A must read

The accommodation is the single most impactful book I have ever read. It turned my perception of the community inside out and made me take a hard look at the sins of our past and present. An eerily timely book despite its original publishing in the 80s.