Is Downtown at Risk of Going Backwards?

[iheartthed]

Sorry to doubt you, but where? When I compare the energy wasted on "racial issues" in Metro Detroit with everywhere else I've lived I've never encountered anywhere else where the topic has caused such harm. I'm willing to believe they exist, but nowhere else I've lived.

Pick any random suburb north of I-696, or west of I-275. There are plenty of places that an upper middle class white guy can live in Metro Detroit and not constantly have it thrown in his face that he's white, and the people around him are not. This is not to say that Metro Detroit hasn't let racial politics get in its own way, which I 100% agree is true.

Random homeless Detroiters are not the reason why racial politics are so divisive in the metro area, so expecting those people to act as the perfect race ambassador is just going to be a lot of disappointment. If you are an upper middle class white person that chooses to live in Detroit, you have to come with the expectation that your race might be discussed and it might be awkward. If you're okay with that, enjoy your time there. If you aren't, Detroit might not be the place to be.