What Killed Detroit (Monroe, Wayne, Davison: credit, lawyer, real estate)

[and the]

I am not sure what your point is.

My point is that you seem to be suffering from a not all that uncommon guilt. There is absolutely no reason for anyone to apologize for Orville Hubbard's politics in the context of people like Coleman Young, George Crockett, Justin Ravitz, most of the Detroit city council and school board, etc.....It's just a lot more politically correct to condemn a Hubbard than it is to condemn a Cockrel or a Young or a Ravitz.

And while you're comparing these various types of bigots, take a look at the legacy they left. Which ones were working FOR their cities and which ones were mining their cities for whatever they could get for themselves and their cronies to the detriment of others.

I love detroit, I have so many memories downtown.

Well, you'd do a lot more for the city of Detroit by moving there than by talking about it. I lived most of my adult life there....Over ten years. I have no desire to go back. "Downtown" isn't really "Detroit" when you get right down to it. Detroit is all the neighborhoods that make up the bulk of the city. Downtown just so happens to be the focal point of all the mirrors and the point where the output hoses for all the smoke machines are aimed. It's the place where Humpty Dumpty fell and the place where the Emperor bought his new clothes.

[ranman469]

what killed Detroit??
the constant back and forth blaming crap. and always bringing up the past,and what should have been.

elect good leaders based on past performance. if they dont perform get rid of them.

to Manny people have to much attitude. they say you dont know ,you ain't from here.
and with that attitude they will be the only ones left in a once super city.

some of the worst areas of Chicago made a huge come back, so can Detroit.

it can start here on this board!! treat everyone with respect.
if the message board is not inviting? neither will the city .

[Cheeto]

What killed Detroit? I was born in Detroit, and raised in many locales across the country before living in the city from my late teens to my late 20's. As sad as it is, I would have to say white flight killed the city almost single handedly. It started with white flight in the 1950's and 60's. While it was the trend at the time for middle class families to seek new horizons in suburban communities, the influx of blacks from the south moving to the city at this time fueled the exodus as white families left Detroit at a pace faster than that of any other city in the country. Not to say that all of these families were blatantly racist, they were just fearful of things they had not previously experienced and followed the leader as their friends and neighbors fled the city in droves. The infamous riots in '67 confirmed this paranoia for many and the exodus continued at a rapid pace. As the residents left, businesses left, industries left, leaving the city with a diminishing tax base that resulted in poor city services. Economic hard times hit much of the region in the 1970's and with a shrinking police force, crime skyrocketed in Detroit as it soon became the "murder capitol" of the United States. People continued to flee, as the black community in the city grew more jaded, pepetuating the cycle of racism in the city that still exsists to this day. While white flight removed much of the middle class from the city leaving behind a landscape of poverty and abandonment, black middle class families are leaving the city in droves now as well. The city pumps money into the downtown and riverfront, while the neighborhoods, the true backbone of any city, continue to die. It's a shame that the most powerful natiion in the world can allow places like this to exsist. With all this talk about saving our resources and thinking "green", how can we let whole cities go unused. Alot of Detroit is like a ghost town, and people move farther and farthewr out into the far reaches of suburbia, destroying precious natural resources while a perfectly good city sits dormant and dying. If people moved back into Detroit and rehabbed the old homes and buildings, and put some money back into the city, it would once again be among the world's greatest. As long as the Detroit region continues to let the auto industry and racial segregation define their quality of life, it'll never happen.

[reconmark]

Originally Posted by Maxine3

unreasonable...
insane...
Colman Young was the pebble that started the landslide.
Why would the 'burbs lift a finger (except the middle one) to help pull Detroit up when all they get in return is hate.
Racism goes both ways.

I'm sorry who must have misspoke or you can't seem to remember too much history of this area. Coleman Young started it all? Race riots since the turn of the the century, KKK and the Black Hand, Red Lining, segregation, housing convenants, Black bottom, harrasement for merely being in the suburbs, you definately are looking through rose colored lenses. As far as Mayor Hubbard I suppose you could say he was a good mayor as long as he had his foot on the neck of anyone who wasen't white and routinely called everyone who was black a ni88er.

Some of Detroit's history you may not be aware of.




What killed Detroit was lies based on Race, irrational fear, poverty and ignorance and the inability of indivisuals to accept responsibility for the part they had in it. Also the refusal of some to allow others to live as "free and equals" in a society that says that this is a basic human right. This post is not directed as just you but many others, black and white who still refuse to face the truth.

http://info.detnews.com/history/stor...ategory=people
http://info.detnews.com/history/stor...ategory=events
http://www.metrotimes.com/archives/young/myth.html (broken link)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ossian_Sweet
http://info.detnews.com/history/stor...ategory=events

If you want more just ask. We can play the "It's ALL your fault" game which really solves nothing. But please don't hold up this man to be an example of a Mayor to be idolized. I can also supply a list of historically white mayors of the city of Detroit that had many episodes of impropriety attached to their proffesional and personal lives. But they get a pass, don't they?

What killed Detroit were lies based on race, ignorance, mistrust, hatred, and the refusal to allow some citizens to live as "equal" citizens, most of all the blind denial of the whole process that created and maintains the aparteid we have here in se Mi today.

This is not just aimed at you but to all who refuse to look at the totality of this "thing" we have in our state.

[Maxine3]

Originally Posted by Maxine3

unreasonable...
insane...
Colman Young was the pebble that started the landslide.
Why would the 'burbs lift a finger (except the middle one) to help pull Detroit up when all they get in return is hate.
Racism goes both ways.

I stand by my post.

Colman Young was the pebble that started the landslide.

[reconmark]

Originally Posted by Maxine3

I stand by my post.

Colman Young was the pebble that started the landslide.

I totally understand and we can disagree ammicably.
But your reply sort of reminds me of the movies where the people refuse to admit the titanic is sinking, even while their ankles are getting wet.

Could you possibly refuse to see any Mayor prior to Coleman Young being unfit for office because, well, because he was the first of "his kind" type of mayor.

[Maxine3]

"Could you possibly refuse to see any Mayor prior to Coleman Young being unfit for office because, well, because he was the first of "his kind" type of mayor."
Is this a question?
I'm sure there were others of "his kind" that were qualified to be the mayor of Detroit. Detroit didn't need a race baiter.
What reaction did Detroiters expect from the 'burbs?

[downthathighway]

<<<<I'm sure there were others of "his kind" that were qualified to be the mayor of Detroit. Detroit didn't need a race baiter.<<<<
...Agreed. I was too young to vote but in 1969 Detroit voters had a choice between the county sheriff and a politician with clerk background. The sheriff with lighter complexion won the election and proceeded to divide the city more. Police action very heavy (STRESS) and their actions were in the news constantly, making it appear Detroit was totally lawless, thanks to the decoys. If prostitution arrests by decoys were as 'newsworthy' one would also assume Detroit was a bordello even today.
... Over the next 4 years, people left unsafe Detroit in droves, leaving behind those who could not afford to move. This mayor (Gribbs) had no chance of re-election and knew it. The majority left in Detroit then voted for Coleman Young.
...Detroit has been plagued with crime for years. But the economics and city services have declined since Coleman Young.
....The REST of the story- Losing candidate in 1969 was Richard Austin. He went on to serve many terms as Michigan Secretary State. Imagine how Detroit could have benefitted from his accounting background !

[tjlorton]

What I've been reading. is that, during WWII and through the 50's, workers were being recruited out of the South. Their wasn't enough housing to accommodate them from the start. This caused racial tension right from the beginning. The majority of these migrating workers were unskilled coming to the North for high paying factory work. The 50's later saw a decline in jobs as plants started to relocate to the South,to take advantage of the lower pay scales, along with plants becoming more automated. Most believe companies going overseas in the recent past has more of an impact, but in the 50's, the Detroit area was home to a large population of unemployed, unskilled people. Just this fact breeds crime as people try to survive without work. Vices become more prevalent and so forth.
It appears that each succeeding generation inherits these socio-economic issues. The primary factor, more jobs/more tax base, will take time to create a more favorable environment.
In the meantime, the rich heritage of the Detroit area suffers as historic buildings lie in ruins with no hope for restoration. People move on to a better area to make a living.
I spend a lot of time in the downtown area, some things are changing, but a tour outside of downtown appears to be a war zone in many areas. The city obviously has no desire in financing the demolition of all the dilapidated, unsafe buildings found in the city limits. Taxes are high to make up for the dwindling tax base, so I'm sure many business's consider other locations to move into.

[Coldjensens]

I have been to told that even when the City finances demolition of buildings that are beyond resurrection, they sometimes mess it up and demolish the wrong building by mistake. Anyone know how often that actually happens?