Another foreign publication reports on Detroit: Le Monde
Le Monde, the Paris-based newspaper that is the New York Times of France, published a long article on the crisis of Detroit in the Janvier issue of its monthly magazine, Le Monde Diplomatique.
Titled "Detroit, the shrinking African-American city," the article covers the mostly familiar ground of demographic change, job loss, foreclosed homes, fires, health problems, the history of the auto industry and "the relentless sound of chirping grasshoppers" in rural-like neighborhoods of the city.
Unlike Time Magazine in September, Le Monde gets it right when it comes to the origins of Detroit's crisis, pegging that transformation to the post-war years, when the city's economy began to undergo trememendous change.
One original thought: Le Monde asks why, in the face of such monumental problems, no one is protesting in the streets or going on strike in the factories.
[[Le Monde has an English-language web site, but the article is available only to subscribers. I found a hard copy at Borders.)
where you stand depends upon where you sit
Quote:
Maybe a repeat of 1967. That worked so well for everybody.
I'm not sure it worked so badly for the rioters; they were badly off before the riots, and continued to be badly off afterward, but from what I've read the nature of policing in Detroit did change after '67. Detroit as a whole was certainly disadvantaged, but I doubt it is reasonable to expect rioters to worry about that.
The US population in general seems remarkably sanguine about the rather high levels of unemployment and poverty that exist. It is somewhat surprising there haven't been more substantial protests. As far as I can see most of the protests that are happening are unfocused objections to things in general by middle-class white folks.
translated copy of Le Monde Detroit article