Originally Posted by
Danny
Over the past 100 to 50 years Detroit experience systems of xenophobia, segregation, restrictive covenants, cheap private and public property development in the suburbs, violent crime, racial transition and city-government corruption:
1. Xenophobia: Blacks, Whites, Mexicans and other immigrants came to Detroit to work in the automobile industry from Ford's assembly line to other manufacturing companies. People in different colors lived in their neighborhoods and they meant to keep other colored people out.
2. Segregation: When people lived in their Detroit neighborhoods they attempt to put walls, fences and create certian property deeds to white areas white, black areas black, Hispanic area Hispanic other folks in other areas.
3. Restrictive Covenants: When certian Detroit neighorhoods were built. They were built for mostly white middle class folks. like Rosedale Park to Indian Village. Poor Whites lived on low cost homes from Brightmoore to Oakwood Heights. Blacks, Mexicans and others were kept out from those areas due to their color of their skin. Some black families like Sweet family in east side and the McGhees in the west side challege those laws and won. Now white middle class families are getting scared of them and plan to move to other areas. The five Grosse Pointe suburbs had a racial steering program called the 'The Pointe System' meant to welcome rich white families and keep coloreds out!
3. Cheap and private and public property development in the suburbs: White middle folks who lived in certian Detroit neigborhoods are fed up with black folks moving in their zone due to slum clearance of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley, following ethnic Jewish communities and seeking better housing and shopping and schools. After WWII land in Detroit is getting very expensive so the suburbs offer automobile and manufacturing companies cheap land. They took the deal the moved out to area like Warren, Troy, Madison Heights, Clinton TWP, Wayne, Westland, Canton, Livonia, TWP ect... This cause private real estate companies to build cookie cutter ticky tacky little boxes that look like Levittown. It was meant for middle class white people not black families. Later the developent of shining cement coated freeways and shopping malls like Northland with access free parking lots will get the white folks out of Downtown Detroit and other mom and pop bazaars in a flash.
4. Racial transition: The 1960s was a dangerous decade for Detroit. There were a first it was a community and religious battle between first wave black families vs. poor uneducatued second wave black families. Most 1st wave blacks accepted more of Black Nation of Islam under the hononable Eiljah Mohammed. They worried a lot of black prechers mostly evangelicals and southern baptists. So later Black southern black preachers converting 2nd wave Black Detroiters via the wake of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King. In the meantime hon. Elijah Mohammed is getting ill. He was worried that these black prechers will hinder the black community by building strofront churches and megachurches and compete for Christians for profit rather than finding lost souls. Also he worried that when whites leave Detroit and will regional jobs and development. So he quickly packed his bags, gather his followers and move to Chicago's South side to built his 'Promised Land' base. To keep his Nation of Islam strong He appointed Malcolm X to the next Leader. The problem for Malcolm X is that he preached violence and blaming white folks for the plight of black nationalism. He also blamed Black Christian preachers for being 'Uncle Tom' to the black community. This problem was accepted to second wave Black Detroit community to get ready for racial war. This lead to 1967 riot. Later real estate developers were plotting to lure white Detroit middle class families to the suburbs by hiring black kids to ride their bike to certian white Detroit hoods. This would put them in state of fear forcing them to sell their Detroit dwellings to Black families.
5. Violent Crime: the 1970s was terrible decade for Detroit. Gangs were formed, drugs were rampant and so did the robberies and shootings. It started in areas in transition from inner cities to upper east and west sides of Detroit. Middle class black families were moving further near 8 Mile Rd. Poor blacks migrated to certian parts of lower east and west side and made a ghetto out of it. This would get them to thinks to move to suburbs, too. Starting with Oak Park and Southfield. By 1974 Detroit become 52% black and 44% white. With a population of 1.5 million.
6. City and government corruption: After of the election of Coleman A. Young the first black mayor of Detroit in 1973. He wants to make Detroit more African centered before ethnic regional centered. He made racial comments in second person sentences. It's his way of attacking white people for their oppression. Since Detroit's financial woes increased, there was not enough regional dollars for more public services from police to D-DOT busses. After the Rennaisance Center building completed in 1977, there were no new taller skycsrapers that could rival the building. He played the part to have Poletown destroyed for the GM Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant in 1980. Plus more business are leaving Downtown Detroit to the suburbs. In fact by 1985 after J.L. Hudson Flagship store closed most of the retail stores along Woodward Ave. closed their doors for good. After Young left office Detroit was in shambles. It took Mayor Dennis Archer to clean up his mess by giving private companies 15 to 53% Neighborhood, Empowerment Zone tax break if they build their projects in the city. After Archer Left Detroit is back to square one when Kwame Kilpatrick threw Manoogian Parties, firing people in no reason, hiring his goon squad to do his dirty work, exchage text sex with his lover Christine Beaty. That led to perjury in a whistlblower lawsuit. That led him in jail and some restitution in which he's broke! Now he's on trial with his daddy and two of his goon squad charged with 19 counts of fraud, emblezzlement, extortion and bribery. If they convicted they would get up to 30 years in a club fed! Now we Bing who is not a politician and he is running Detroit to the ground into a brink of bankruptcy and emergency financial manager dictatorship.