Kid Rock isn't from Detroit.

**princealbert** · September-03-10, 01:16 AM

Originally Posted by dookie joe

I grew up in the worst ghetto in Detroit, the Cass Corridor, which had the lowest income of any zip code in the United States back in the '70s, 48201. We had rats and roaches; one night when I got into bed, a rat darted out from under the covers and through a grate in the floor. And to this day I double-check each spoonful or Raisin Bran to make sure those little black things are raisins, not roaches.

I currently reside in southwest Detroit, smack dab in the middle of Latin Counts territory.

So I suppose I have as much "street cred" when it comes to "being from Detroit" as anyone.

And I can tell you: The only people who really give a crap about "who is from Detroit" are:

1. Hipsters who've moved here and don't want others horning in on their action.

2. Prejudiced black people who use the "outsider" schtick as a code word for "white people."

The hipsters crack me up. I know several of them; they're obsessed with who is and isn't from Detroit. As I said, they think it makes them interesting and they get more cred with the NPR crowd if they live in the gritty city.

Make no mistake: I don't live in Detroit as a badge of honor. I live here because it's cheap.

Well said, couldn't agree more.

**MaestroDearborn** · September-03-10, 01:38 AM

Eminem is from Warren, isn't that outside Detroit?

**Gistok** · September-03-10, 02:11 AM

Originally Posted by dookie joe

I grew up in the worst ghetto in Detroit, the Cass Corridor, which had the lowest income of any zip code in the United States back in the '70s, 48201. We had rats and roaches; one night when I got into bed, a rat darted out from under the covers and through a grate in the floor. And to this day I double-check each spoonful or Raisin Bran to make sure those little black things are raisins, not roaches.

LOL... dookie joe... I do that too when checking Raisin Bran.... one never knows...

But check out the first minute of this YOUTUBE... for a really funny scene about termites...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUGPa...eature=related

**Downriver Gal** · September-03-10, 10:04 AM

Originally Posted by dookie joe

And I can tell you: The only people who really give a crap about "who is from Detroit" are:

1. Hipsters who've moved here and don't want others horning in on their action.

2. Prejudiced black people who use the "outsider" schtick as a code word for "white people."

In addition to these categories, there's one more I've run into occasionally over the years: middle-class and up Detroiters who are insecure about their street cred and overcompensate. They tend to come from nice neighborhoods, particularly on the northwest side, and often went to private schools in the burbs. When I lived in the city, the people who wouldn't shut up about being from Detroit were almost always bougie, but wanted a cookie for having lived two feet south of 8 mile. The working class Detroiters I knew generally did not give a shit what your zip code was, because they had nothing to prove.

**Pickford-Bentler** · September-03-10, 12:43 PM

Originally Posted by Downriver Gal

In addition to these categories, there's one more I've run into occasionally over the years: middle-class and up Detroiters who are insecure about their street cred and overcompensate. They tend to come from nice neighborhoods, particularly on the northwest side, and often went to private schools in the burbs. When I lived in the city, the people who wouldn't shut up about being from Detroit were almost always bougie, but wanted a cookie for having lived two feet south of 8 mile. The working class Detroiters I knew generally did not give a shit what your zip code was, because they had nothing to prove.

You must mean Rosedale Park.

Although I see your point and have met this type of person, there are significant sections of NW Detroit that are not now or never were bougie. For example, Pickford between Lahser and Evergreen. In the late 1980s, I would have to weave around the unit body carcasses left by the thieves in order to get to my parents house. The DPD busted the house across from my parent's for illegally chopping cars in the big garage that was part of the lot. Because the house was not heated while this guy was in prison, the pipes busted, froze and lifted the structure off of its foundation. Today, there is about 40% of the original housing stock on that particular block of Pickford.

I also believe that Brightmoore is considered part of NW Detroit.

Historically, Brightmoore was a neighborhood for laborers.

**Downriver Gal** · September-03-10, 01:53 PM

^^
I'm referring to specific neighborhoods, like Palmer Woods and the University District. I know much of if not most of NW Detroit is working class.

I just knew a bunch of people in the 80s and 90s from the nicer neighborhoods north of U of D that had an attitude I never got from other parts of the city. Maybe it was peculiar to that area.

**Pickford-Bentler** · September-03-10, 02:09 PM

Originally Posted by Downriver Gal

^^
I'm referring to specific neighborhoods, like Palmer Woods and the University District. I know much of if not most of NW Detroit is working class.

I just knew a bunch of people in the 80s and 90s from the nicer neighborhoods north of U of D that had an attitude I never got from other parts of the city. Maybe it was peculiar to that area.

No, I believe you might be dead on. First, those are upper scale hoods and, second, one of my cousins, who lived by U of D, remarked how he could handle any part of Washington DC because he was "from Detroit". Put it this way, all of the "from Detroit" in the world is not going to help you in Potomac Gardens.

All I ever learned was that it pays to be nice to all people and treat them with respect.

More on topic. The working class culture that I guess that Kid Rock is trying to play on can be found throughout the metro area. In fact, the Brightmoore of the 1970s that I rmember had quite a few males who fit his MO.

LodgeDodger · September-03-10, 02:15 PM

All I ever learned was that it pays to be nice to all people and treat them with respect.

Amen.

...........

**ggores** · September-03-10, 02:51 PM

Originally Posted by Pickford-Bentler

I also believe that Brightmoore is considered labor.

The is no "e" at the end. Just wait, one of these days I will post a pic of the street sign says "Lasher". Correct punctuation, you know.

**Pickford-Bentler** · September-03-10, 06:02 PM

You got me.

Would this sentence pass muster?

Michael Moore walked down Lahser to take pictures of the blight in Brightmoor in order to use them in his expose of how GM wrecked his hometown of Davison.

**ggores** · September-03-10, 10:31 PM

Originally Posted by Pickford-Bentler

You got me.

Would this sentence pass muster?

Michael Moore walked down Lahser to take pictures of the blight in Brightmoor in order to use them in his expose of how GM wrecked his hometown of Davison.

Nice reference to Davison, active voice, but you misspelled "mustard", so you get a B+. Nice work. \n/

**Pam** · September-04-10, 07:48 AM

but you misspelled "mustard

No, he didn't.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/muster

**Pickford-Bentler** · September-04-10, 08:38 AM

I see that my use of "pass muster" cut the mustard.

DetroitPole · September-07-10, 07:48 AM

I don't think the designs are the greatest, but here is a nice little write-up related to our Romeo musician:

http://www.detroitmfg.com/aboutus.asp

Also a gentle reminder that the City of Detroit is an absolutely, positively distinct and different place than the suburbs, no matter how much you wish and pretend that is not for whatever geographic identity crisis or guilt complex you may have.

**fryar** · September-07-10, 08:24 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitPole

I don't think the designs are the greatest, but here is a nice little write-up related to our Romeo musician:

http://www.detroitmfg.com/aboutus.asp

Another site worth a look if you're looking for positive t-shirts about Detroit.

This t-shirt is, perhaps, the ultimate ironic tee?

Get it? Because - and please correct me if I'm wrong - "City of Tomorrow" is basically code for GM buying out public transportation systems, which some of us here daily argue helped contribute to Detroit's downfall.

Back on topic, these t-shirts illustrate the idea that everybody's from [[metro) Detroit, sans qualifier. You think some dude at DTW is browsing the airport gift shop for a T-Shirt about Troy or Canton since, well, that's where he went? It's all Detroit, baby.

**fryar** · September-07-10, 08:26 AM

Oh, the original Detroit label bought out by Kid Rock as per DP's post is at www.madeindetroit.com, for anyone interested. I'm not a design guy myself, but I can see some similarities in style between those two.

**Cinderpath** · September-08-10, 04:55 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitPole

These are not simply "lines drawn on a map". Our region has serious racial and economic divisions - probably the worst in the entire nation, and we cannot pretend they didn't happen or that they are somehow solved now that it is the 21st century and that we are now one big happy family. Detroit is blacker and poorer than ever before. For decades, people fled the city in droves simply because of race.

If anything I think race relations are just as bad as they ever were, and we can't make them go away by pretending they aren't there. I'm not saying the suburbanites are wrong and the Detroiters are right. I'm saying there is very deep division - emotional, economic, and racial, not to mention simply logistical [[transit) that needs to be resolved before we can honestly say we are a cohesive region.

I've got news for you: If you think we have serious racial issues, head on down south on I-75 to the southland. Cincinnati: most bigoted place I have ever lived. Up here is a breath of fresh northern air compared with much of the South still.

**Hypestyles** · September-10-10, 03:09 PM

the new single is supposed to have Mary J Blige and T.I. wonder if they'll do a video..

**Gistok** · September-10-10, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by DetroitPole

Also a gentle reminder that the City of Detroit is an absolutely, positively distinct and different place than the suburbs, no matter how much you wish and pretend that is not for whatever geographic identity crisis or guilt complex you may have.

"A gentle reminder" is an understatement... you've been re-reminding us about this over and over again....

For those of us who have lived in the city [[past or present), who have lived in its' suburbs [[past or present)... we'll just continue to call ourselve "Detroiters" when we so choose! And for what others think about it... [[paraphrasing Gone With The Wind)... "frankly... we don't give a damn!".....