Detroit's Corktown area finds life after Tiger Stadium

[rex]

ahaha heaven forbid whites reinvest in the city.

[Detroitnerd]

I think you're savvy enough to know that the complaint is about the all-white media coverage, not about white people, white money or white lightning. I don't care if it doesn't bother you. But I imagine that even Corktown's biggest cheerleaders [[especially its biggest cheerleaders) would bend over backward to include black entrepreneurs and show that it's not just white folks. The journalist should have known better.

Take it from me, people of color see this sort of reporting and shake their heads. In a city that's majority black, that's a problem.

[Jaybiz]

I think you're savvy enough to know that the complaint is about the all-white media coverage, not about white people, white money or white lightning. I don't care if it doesn't bother you. But I imagine that even Corktown's biggest cheerleaders [[especially its biggest cheerleaders) would bend over backward to include black entrepreneurs and show that it's not just white folks. The journalist should have known better.

Take it from me, people of color see this sort of reporting and shake their heads. In a city that's majority black, that's a problem.

If you were a New Yorker you'd be the same person who would be outraged that Harlem is becoming more diverse with more whites and others moving into the once all black Mecca, I've seen it when in NYC all the time, especially with professional black brownstoners in Harlem, they cry that the character of the neighborhood will be lost but god forbid if there is an all-white area like the Little Italy's In Brooklyn because those people must all be racist because no blacks live in their neighborhood. No one, especially in the city of Detroit, is stopping the black community from investing or living in Corktown.

[Detroitnerd]

If you were a New Yorker you'd be the same person who would be outraged that Harlem is becoming more diverse with more whites and others moving into the once all black Mecca, I've seen it when in NYC all the time, especially with professional black brownstoners in Harlem, they cry that the character of the neighborhood will be lost but god forbid if there is an all-white area like the Little Italy's In Brooklyn because those people must all be racist because no blacks live in their neighborhood. No one, especially in the city of Detroit, is stopping the black community from investing or living in Corktown.

I was a New Yorker, but that's neither here nor there. Are you paying attention to what I'm writing, or just constructing a bogeyman in your head that you can impatiently dismiss?

I'm not anti-Cooley. Frankly, I don't know why anybody should be anti-Cooley. Cooley is a cool guy. I'm not against people moving to Corktown, or the changing demographics and income levels of Corktown. Nowhere have I complained about that. [[But that doesn't stop you from thinking you have me all figured out, a la Harlem. What a joke!)

What I'm talking about is media coverage and perceptions, which are important. The reporter who wrote that story is relatively young and perhaps didn't realize that that kind of coverage is going to alienate the African-Americans who do live in the area. I know one of my black friends was upset by the article. I know of one black business owner in the Corktown area who consistently complains that no journalist covering the "new" Corktown ever comes to see the business she's running. As I said, I am not against any of the changes happening in Corktown, but if I were a PR adviser for the businesses clumped together along Michigan Avenue, I would say that now is the time to avoid a future PR problem. When journalists come in and reinforce the idea that the new Corktown is a bunch of white businesspeople, that's not good for anybody.

I'm all for diversity, and Corktown is diverse, but when you focus on a block or two of white entrepreneurs at the expense of the rest of the businesspeople, you're going to alienate a lot of people who are also contributing to the neighborhood... does that make sense?

[Jaybiz]

I was a New Yorker, but that's neither here nor there. Are you paying attention to what I'm writing, or just constructing a bogeyman in your head that you can impatiently dismiss?

I'm not anti-Cooley. Frankly, I don't know why anybody should be anti-Cooley. Cooley is a cool guy. I'm not against people moving to Corktown, or the changing demographics and income levels of Corktown. Nowhere have I complained about that. [[But that doesn't stop you from thinking you have me all figured out, a la Harlem. What a joke!)

What I'm talking about is media coverage and perceptions, which are important. The reporter who wrote that story is relatively young and perhaps didn't realize that that kind of coverage is going to alienate the African-Americans who do live in the area. I know one of my black friends was upset by the article. I know of one black business owner in the Corktown area who consistently complains that no journalist covering the "new" Corktown ever comes to see the business she's running. As I said, I am not against any of the changes happening in Corktown, but if I were a PR adviser for the businesses clumped together along Michigan Avenue, I would say that now is the time to avoid a future PR problem. When journalists come in and reinforce the idea that the new Corktown is a bunch of white businesspeople, that's not good for anybody.

I'm all for diversity, and Corktown is diverse, but when you focus on a block or two of white entrepreneurs at the expense of the rest of the businesspeople, you're going to alienate a lot of people who are also contributing to the neighborhood... does that make sense?

Yes that makes sense so why didn't you clarify that from the beginning instead of "all white ain't alright" or whatever it was. I'm sure the young reporter has no idea about the goings on of the city. Most young white people who moved into the city have no clue about the city; either they hail from some affluent suburb or they are from out of state, from what I've found their parents didn't grow up in the city let alone them, they are not from some blue collar suburb on the boarders of the city. These are educated people like this young reporter who have very little in common with average metro-detroiters so they end up clueless about the real city and just talk about how excited they are for Trader Joes to open.

[Detroitnerd]

Yes that makes sense so why didn't you clarify that from the beginning instead of "all white ain't alright" or whatever it was. I'm sure the young reporter has no idea about the goings on of the city. Most young white people who moved into the city have no clue about the city; either they hail from some affluent suburb or they are from out of state, from what I've found their parents didn't grow up in the city let alone them, they are not from some blue collar suburb on the boarders of the city. These are educated people like this young reporter who have very little in common with average metro-detroiters so they end up clueless about the real city and just talk about how excited they are for Trader Joes to open.

Fair point. It was a flip statement, I admit. I've been known to do that from time to time on this board. Thanks for forcing me to clarify my thoughts, and for the fair hearing.

[Jaybiz]

Fair point. It was a flip statement, I admit. I've been known to do that from time to time on this board. Thanks for forcing me to clarify my thoughts, and for the fair hearing.

Haha no problem bro, and I apologize for that broad statement about Harlem, I can make generalized statements sometimes myself.