Are White People in Detroit immune to Violent crime in the city

**corktownyuppie** · January-18-12, 01:35 PM

Originally Posted by 313hero

Boston-Edison

You know, I've been thinking about that neighborhood for when I "settle down", which might not be for 5 years+. I love the buildings and certainly, the prices are right. I hope that the area along Woodward near there could be a little safe and better developed, but I'm jealous. That's a nice place.

**milesdriven** · January-18-12, 07:08 PM

What a silly question. Almost everyone I know, whether they're white, black, arab, or hispanic who has lived in the CoD has been been robbed or burglarized at some point, sometimes violently. Is it still considered a violent crime if you're robbed at gunpoint, but they're nice enough to not pistol-whip you in the face? In all fairness, certain areas are much safer than others, and when I visit family in the 6 Mile/Mound or Fenkell/Wyoming areas, I drive to Hamtramck, Woodbridge, or north of 8-Mile to get my beer.

**rjk** · January-18-12, 07:24 PM

I think you're confusing crime with sickle cell anemia.

bartock · January-18-12, 07:52 PM

dammit......

**louis** · January-19-12, 07:51 AM

no one is immune to crime. there are just less white people in the city than black people thus your more likely to see more crimes related to black people. however i would like to see the crime rate between the cities demographics.

**buzzman0077** · January-19-12, 12:48 PM

My wife and were having a similar conversation the other night. We thougt with all the nationwide lists of most dangerous places it would be interesting if 1. The had seperate lists for each race. Or 2. Had seperate lists for each economic grouping.

**kryptonite** · January-20-12, 10:07 AM

313, I can personally confirm that white people can be the taget of violent crime in Detroit from my own experience. I have also known at least two white people that were shot during robberies, fortunately both survived. My experience happened in the driveway of my house, an armed robbery/home invasion/physical assault. And I was always extremely cautious and aware of my surroundings in the city. Having been a long term Detroit resident in the past, I know several other white people who have been robbed, beaten, raped, stabbed, etc. Some did not exercise good sense in a large city environment, others were careful and still were victimized. Violent crime is a major factor in the exodus of whites from Detroit in the 70s and 80s. People who were victims of violent crime or property crime routinely left Detroit after the incident. Also, many left because of incidents in their immediate neighborhood or incidents involving family members.

**Modusvivendi** · January-20-12, 11:47 AM

Originally Posted by kryptonite

313, I can personally confirm that white people can be the taget of violent crime in Detroit from my own experience. I have also known at least two white people that were shot during robberies, fortunately both survived. My experience happened in the driveway of my house, an armed robbery/home invasion/physical assault. And I was always extremely cautious and aware of my surroundings in the city. Having been a long term Detroit resident in the past, I know several other white people who have been robbed, beaten, raped, stabbed, etc. Some did not exercise good sense in a large city environment, others were careful and still were victimized. Violent crime is a major factor in the exodus of whites from Detroit in the 70s and 80s. People who were victims of violent crime or property crime routinely left Detroit after the incident. Also, many left because of incidents in their immediate neighborhood or incidents involving family members.

From the perspective of a non-Detroiter/non-Michigan resident, this is astonishing. I've lived in medium to major-sized cities my entire life and can only think of one or two friends of mine who've been crime victims. Both were robberies, but neither resulted in violence. From what I've read in this forum, it seems that many people are faimilar first or second hand with very serious crimes like beatings, rapes, etc. in Detroit. Again, the idea that this is a common experience in Detroit is shocking and, in my opinion, very far removed from the experiences of most people in the U.S.

**corktownyuppie** · January-20-12, 12:42 PM

Originally Posted by Modusvivendi

From the perspective of a non-Detroiter/non-Michigan resident, this is astonishing. I've lived in medium to major-sized cities my entire life and can only think of one or two friends of mine who've been crime victims. Both were robberies, but neither resulted in violence. From what I've read in this forum, it seems that many people are faimilar first or second hand with very serious crimes like beatings, rapes, etc. in Detroit. Again, the idea that this is a common experience in Detroit is shocking and, in my opinion, very far removed from the experiences of most people in the U.S.

It's not just astonishing to you, it's astonishing to me, too...and I've spent 24 years living in Detroit. I know no one who is a victim of violent crime, white or black, not even by 1 degree of separation.

The only victims I know of petty crime. In high school someone had 200 CDs visible in his car and they were stolen. A college friend put his golf clubs in the back seat of his car and they were stolen. A friend had an iPod stolen from his dashboard.

I don't know what makes me different from everyone else. I do know that most of my time is spent in environments where all but a few are middle to upper-middle class. Everyone has at least a high school education, and most have college or graduate level degrees. I have a professional occupation and work mostly with professionals.

Most of my partying and social scene is either in Downtown Detroit or Downtown Royal Oak. I drink like a fish but I don't use drugs. My friends that smoke weed buy it from a med student living in a gated community. I don't have a CCW. Some of my friends carry pepper spray, but that's it.

I dunno...Detroit's a big place. I think it really depends on where you spend you're time and who you're with.

On the flip side, if I was pizza delivery guy covering iffy neighborhoods...yeah, I'd be packing heat.

**313hero** · January-20-12, 01:03 PM

Yeah it sucks being around or being affected by violent crime. I litterally have had 6 good friends of mine DIE from violence on the streets of Detroit. And about 13 or 14 that have been shot and survived. My Cousin was shot up around thanksgiving in an attempted robbery/carjacking. He drove off when the perp showed his gun and the perp just started shooting up the car. he drove to the nearest police station and started blowing the horn. The police came out and saw he was shot 4x's and called EMS. EMS told the police they had no ambulances available, so the officers put him in a police car and drove him to the hospital and saved his life. I thanked the officers for their quick thinking and life saving actions. That day I gained a new respect for our boys in blue

**corktownyuppie** · January-20-12, 02:35 PM

Detroit's a big place and is different things to different people.

Here's a quote from an article unrelated to violent crime...

http://www.freep.com/article/2012012...text|FRONTPAGE

“Speaking anecdotally, I hope there are no unintended consequences of comporting with state law. Now we look and three years later, District 7 is 90% folk who are below the poverty line. I think that when you’re drawing lines … We are human and we want to make sure we’re doing the right thing.”

Is it possible that in the same city you have one district where 90% are below the poverty line and another area where 99% of people have some college coursework and 25% have graduate-level educations?

Yes. And our two experiences of Detroit are vastly worlds apart.

**Rochelle St.** · January-21-12, 10:34 AM

Remember the white woman who was beaten at the Fireworks celebration years ago, by two black twin sisters who were calling her "white b*tch" and "White meat"?
They were acquitted despite a video showing them beating the woman.
What eventually became of these two afterwards?

**Bham1982** · January-21-12, 02:42 PM

Originally Posted by corktownyuppie

Is it possible that in the same city you have one district where 90% are below the poverty line and another area where 99% of people have some college coursework and 25% have graduate-level educations?

Yes. And our two experiences of Detroit are vastly worlds apart.

There are no sections of Detroit that fit this profile [[99% post-high school and 25% Masters or higher).

And I don't think these two typologies [[poverty stricken vs. middle class) have wildly dissimlar experiences re. crime.

A quick scan of recent crime reports, or surveying of folks in stable neighborhoods will find that violent offenses are quite common in even the best Detroit neighborhoods.

I have two family members who were victims of violent crimes [[both at gunpoint) in one of the richest and safest Detroit neighborhoods [[Livernois-7) area. We have DYes thread on a random murder in Rosedale Park. I know of frequent revenge firebombings in supposedly "stable" parts of SW Detroit.

**corktownyuppie** · January-22-12, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by Bham1982

There are no sections of Detroit that fit this profile [[99% post-high school and 25% Masters or higher).

And I don't think these two typologies [[poverty stricken vs. middle class) have wildly dissimlar experiences re. crime.

A quick scan of recent crime reports, or surveying of folks in stable neighborhoods will find that violent offenses are quite common in even the best Detroit neighborhoods.

I have two family members who were victims of violent crimes [[both at gunpoint) in one of the richest and safest Detroit neighborhoods [[Livernois-7) area. We have DYes thread on a random murder in Rosedale Park. I know of frequent revenge firebombings in supposedly "stable" parts of SW Detroit.

I was incorrect in using the word "district". It's what I stated but not what I meant. Moreover, everything you stated is accurate, to I don't dispute that.

What I meant was that depending on your day-to-day life in Detroit, two people can have vastly different experiences. For example, I know someone who lives at the Book Cadillac and works at the GM building. His commute is to walk to the Michigan Ave. People Mover and take it to the RenCen. His experience is vastly different from someone who lives in Rosedale Park and teaches at Pershing.

I know someone living at Millender Center who goes to Law School at Wayne. Her experience is way different from father when we were living in EEV and he'd take the Kercheval bus downtown for work everyday.

So yes, there are no districts with 99% post-grad. What I meant to say is that for some Detroiters, certainly the minority, their lives look nothing like the lives of those who have witnessed 3 violent crimes in the last week or month.

**corktownyuppie** · January-22-12, 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by Bham1982

There are no sections of Detroit that fit this profile [[99% post-high school and 25% Masters or higher).

And I don't think these two typologies [[poverty stricken vs. middle class) have wildly dissimlar experiences re. crime.

A quick scan of recent crime reports, or surveying of folks in stable neighborhoods will find that violent offenses are quite common in even the best Detroit neighborhoods.

I have two family members who were victims of violent crimes [[both at gunpoint) in one of the richest and safest Detroit neighborhoods [[Livernois-7) area. We have DYes thread on a random murder in Rosedale Park. I know of frequent revenge firebombings in supposedly "stable" parts of SW Detroit.

And you're right. I don't think the middle class and lower class have different experiences of crime. But I think there's an upper class in Detroit that experiences significantly less crime. Much less.