1967 Remembered

[timinasia]

#45 isn't helping matters much either.

I had just turned 21 when the '67 riots hit. All Detroit liquor stores were closed, so I had to drive to Ann Arbor to buy beer. I agree that you have to study & learn from history or you wind up like our current President & his administration. I lived in a lovely neighborhood at Evergreen & 6 Mile completely unaffected by the riots. I received a good education in Michigan, at Redford high school [['64), Albion College, Economics, B.A [['68), & University of Detroit, M.B.A. [['72) in a time before Betsy DeVos emasculated the education system. I left in '71 because of the "doughnut hole" effect: beautiful suburbs surrounding an inner city nobody cared about.
I left Detroit for Emory University Law School in Atlanta, a city beloved by residents. This was before Detroit's devastating loss of population & business.
I lived in LA when the '92 riots hit. I may be one of the few to experience 2 major riots first-hand. The Detroit riots were much worse.
I've since become an expat for many years, teaching for the University of Maryland in Tokyo for 15 years before retiring to Thailand several years ago. I left the States because I felt it was too conservative, too religious, too violent, too anti-science, too anti-intellectual & too expensive. Obama almost tempted me to return, but now we elected Trump. How is this possible?
In retrospect, after traveling the world, I still have pleasant memories of Detroit. I lived in a time before reality diminished its dreams & hollowed out its future.

[Meddle]

before retiring to Thailand several years ago. I left the States because I felt it was too conservative, too religious,

So, you're in Thailand where you can be jailed simply for calling the King an idiot?

[canuck]

So, you're in Thailand where you can be jailed simply for calling the King an idiot?

Good one. Can't argue about that.

[timinasia]

So, you're in Thailand where you can be jailed simply for calling the King an idiot?

Yes, you're correct. You can be thrown in jail for 20-30 years for disparaging the royal family & we had a military coup d'etat in 2014 & still have a military-dominated government without elections. Thailand is a constitutional monarchy like England & has lese majeste laws like England. The late King was a very good influence on the development of Thailand. The King was born in the States, was a graduate of Princeton & played sax in a jazz band. His Queen was educated in England & Switzerland & trained as a nurse which explains her passion for healthcare & the high level of healthcare in Thailand [[at 1950s prices). Excellent healthcare is one of the reasons I retired in Thailand.
I am one of about a dozen colleagues from the University of Maryland who retired here. Another half dozen colleagues regularly visit. We meet at a good restaurant in Bangkok about 4 times per year. We regularly converse about Thai politics & more than occasionally talk about the royal family without repercussions.
I think you & others who haven't traveled much have an image of Thailand that is 50 years out-of-date & straight out of "The King and I". Thailand is a thoroughly middle-class country, except in certain rural areas. There is a lot of money here. It has a modern mass transit system that is being expanded. Bangkok's downtown is more interesting than Detroit's, though we have a traffic problem.
I'm 70 recovering from a stroke. Stroke is considered a "pre-existing condition" so I have no health insurance here. I'm enrolled in medicare but never use it [[It can't be used in Thailand). I can walk with the aid of a cane. Good affordable physical therapy is one of the reasons I retired here. My one hour therapy sessions here cost approximately $7.
In my opinion, healthcare here is as good as or better than Japan which is very good. I spent the initial 1 & 1/2 months in hospital in Japan before medivacking to Thailand. My Japanese doctor said that I would never walk again. My Thai doctors were more optimistic.
Another reason that I retired here is I'm married to a lovely Thai girl 20 years my junior. The U.S. dollar goes far here. Another reason to retire here. In the U.S., I would be struggling. Here, I own 2 houses, one in Bangkok & the other in Chiang Mai [[cooler & in the mountains). We regularly fly between the 2 cities.
I guess you can't argue with that.

[Lowell]

I'm 70 recovering from a stroke. Stroke is considered a "pre-existing condition" so I have no health insurance here. I'm enrolled in medicare but never use it [[It can't be used in Thailand). I can walk with the aid of a cane. Good affordable physical therapy is one of the reasons I retired here. My one hour therapy sessions here cost approximately $7.

Good luck and I hope the therapy works well for you and you recover fully.

[timinasia]

Good luck and I hope the therapy works well for you and you recover fully.

Thank you.

[stasu1213]

I had just turned 21 when the '67 riots hit. All Detroit liquor stores were closed, so I had to drive to Ann Arbor to buy beer. I agree that you have to study & learn from history or you wind up like our current President & his administration. I lived in a lovely neighborhood at Evergreen & 6 Mile completely unaffected by the riots. I received a good education in Michigan, at Redford high school [['64), Albion College, Economics, B.A [['68), & University of Detroit, M.B.A. [['72) in a time before Betsy DeVos emasculated the education system. I left in '71 because of the "doughnut hole" effect: beautiful suburbs surrounding an inner city nobody cared about.
I left Detroit for Emory University Law School in Atlanta, a city beloved by residents. This was before Detroit's devastating loss of population & business.
I lived in LA when the '92 riots hit. I may be one of the few to experience 2 major riots first-hand. The Detroit riots were much worse.
I've since become an expat for many years, teaching for the University of Maryland in Tokyo for 15 years before retiring to Thailand several years ago. I left the States because I felt it was too conservative, too religious, too violent, too anti-science, too anti-intellectual & too expensive. Obama almost tempted me to return, but now we elected Trump. How is this possible?
In retrospect, after traveling the world, I still have pleasant memories of Detroit. I lived in a time before reality diminished its dreams & hollowed out its future.

Detroit was worse than LA 1992 riot? How so

[timinasia]

Detroit was worse than LA 1992 riot? How so

We didn't have Federal troops & tanks in the '92 LA riots, though I remember seeing young California National Guardsmen holding AK-47s guarding the beaches from gangs. That frightened me. In both Detroit & LA I received most of my news from the media. In LA I was closer to the disturbance where in Detroit it was completely 2nd-hand.
When the Detroit riots started on 12th street I was parked there to attend a Tigers game at old Briggs Stadium. I was attending a double-header against the Yankees. I left after the 1st game [[just when the riots were starting) because the Tigers were playing so badly. I didn't hear about the riots until I got home. The defensive shortstop made 3 errors on one play. That was it for me.
As I remember, the level of violence & deaths & injuries were lesser in LA than Detroit. The riots in both cities happened so long ago it's difficult to remember anything except feelings. Both riots were cataclysmic. Comparing them is somewhat meaningless. The LA riots were less violent, because LA's leaders learned a bit from the Detroit riots. Unfortunately, the police forces of both cities were too aggressive.

[erikd]

We didn't have Federal troops & tanks in the '92 LA riots, though I remember seeing young California National Guardsmen holding AK-47s guarding the beaches from gangs. That frightened me. In both Detroit & LA I received most of my news from the media. In LA I was closer to the disturbance where in Detroit it was completely 2nd-hand.
When the Detroit riots started on 12th street I was parked there to attend a Tigers game at old Briggs Stadium. I was attending a double-header against the Yankees. I left after the 1st game [[just when the riots were starting) because the Tigers were playing so badly. I didn't hear about the riots until I got home. The defensive shortstop made 3 errors on one play. That was it for me.
As I remember, the level of violence & deaths & injuries were lesser in LA than Detroit. The riots in both cities happened so long ago it's difficult to remember anything except feelings. Both riots were cataclysmic. Comparing them is somewhat meaningless. The LA riots were less violent, because LA's leaders learned a bit from the Detroit riots. Unfortunately, the police forces of both cities were too aggressive.

This discussion about the 1992 LA riots vs the 1967 Detroit riots is a good example of the lack of context and misunderstanding that is common when talking about the 1967 Detroit riots.

The 1992 LA riots were somewhat of an anomaly for that time. There was no widespread outbreak of rioting in the early 1990s, unlike the period of rioting that occurred in the last half of the 1960s.

It is ridiculous to say things like "the [[1992) LA riots were less violent, because LA's leaders learned a bit from the Detroit riots."

This shows a complete lack of awareness of the 1965 Watts riots in LA, when a six-day riot broke out, resulting in 34 deaths, over a 1000 injuries, and the California National Guard being called in to quell the rioting.

[Meddle]

This discussion about the 1992 LA riots vs the 1967 Detroit riots is a good example of the lack of context and misunderstanding that is common when talking about the 1967 Detroit riots.

unlike the period of rioting that occurred in the last half of the 1960s.



This shows a complete lack of awareness of the 1965 Watts riots in LA, when a six-day riot broke out, resulting in 34 deaths, over a 1000 injuries, and the California National Guard being called in to quell the rioting.

Newark, NJ was at almost the same time, within a few days:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Newark_riots

And Milwaukee just a few days later:

http://archive.jsonline.com/news/mil...32420114.html/

Roxbury/Boston, June:

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/19...inally-breaks/

[Ray1936]

Detroit was worse than LA 1992 riot? How so

LA recovered. Detroit never did.

[timinasia]

LA recovered. Detroit never did.

I guess you put your finger on why the Detroit riots were worse than LA's.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

I guess you put your finger on why the Detroit riots were worse than LA's.

He's right... The white flight exodus had begun in the early to mid 60's. The riots just expedited it. In LA, the riots didn't lead to white's leaving, because it occurred in primarily black neighborhoods. Where were they going to go? Most blacks couldn't leave for greener pastures, like the whites did here.

[Jimaz]

...I left the States because I felt it was too conservative, too religious, too violent, too anti-science, too anti-intellectual & too expensive. Obama almost tempted me to return, but now we elected Trump. How is this possible?

In retrospect, after traveling the world, I still have pleasant memories of Detroit. I lived in a time before reality diminished its dreams & hollowed out its future.

Thanks for reporting back. Too often people escape without looking back, leaving the rest of us to stumble it out for ourselves without that broader perspective.

You've done us a great service, timinasia.

This reminds me of a scene from My Dinner With Andre.

Escape before it's too late....

The concept of preserves, islands of safety where history can be remembered and the human being can continue to function in order to maintain the species through a dark age. In other words, we're talking about an underground....

[timinasia]

Thanks for reporting back. Too often people leave without looking back, leaving the rest of us to stumble it out for ourselves without that broader perspective. You've done us a great service, timinasia.

This reminds me of a scene from My Dinner With Andre.

Thank you, but my continued interest in Detroit is due to my belief that Detroit was a great place to grow up. Ironically, my interest in this website was sparked by a JAG attorney [[also born & raised in Detroit) who I met several years ago in Tokyo who referred me here.