Your "White Flight" Story

[Dan Wesson]

No, one's white privilege allowed one to flee to a sundown town.

I cannot argue against that.

As a young born and bred, towheaded, poor little white ghetto rat from the lower east side. It became and was all that I had left. Although it weren't no sundown town. More like a run down town.

My white privilege had no value and in fact became a hindrance in my neighborhood.

[Honky Tonk]

I cannot argue against that.

As a young born and bred, towheaded, poor little white ghetto rat from the lower east side. It became and was all that I had left. Although it weren't no sundown town. More like a run down town.

My white privilege had no value and in fact became a hindrance in my neighborhood.

Excellent line. Almost the same story here, Southwest Detroit. About the only thing my "white privilege" got me were random ass-kickings by opposite colored neighbors.

[IrishSpartan]

So you're salty because CAY gave opportunities to blacks, they wouldn't have normally received? We all know whites would freeze them out, every chance they got. Did mayors before him, Cavanagh, or Miriani promote affirmative action? Hell naw. Sounds very disingenuous to me. I bet you still did alright in your career, regardless of the perceived snub.

I've seen you whine about Cavanagh on multiple occasions and lump him in with Miriani. Are you aware that in his time as mayor, Cavanagh was viewed by a significant number of white residents as the first "Black mayor of Detroit"? It was not intended as a compliment towards Cavanagh.

[magnumstan]

Excellent line. Almost the same story here, Southwest Detroit. About the only thing my "white privilege" got me were random ass-kickings by opposite colored neighbors.

Also me, only to a point though. Growing up in the late 60's/70's on the east side [[Mt. Elliott/Miller, Georgia area), there was probably a fistfight a week, for whatever reason. Nothing to do with color. The only specific thing with "opposite coloerd neighbors" was the gangs in that hood. When we were kids, we saw then coming and ran like hell, while they chased us waving sticks and throwing rocks. One day when I was about 13, we said, let's not run, let's stay and fight! And the 3 of us got the living shit beat out of us, by 8 or 9. But ya know what? After that day, we never ran again, it was "Yo, whassup".

[Cincinnati_Kid]

I've seen you whine about Cavanagh on multiple occasions and lump him in with Miriani. Are you aware that in his time as mayor, Cavanagh was viewed by a significant number of white residents as the first "Black mayor of Detroit"? It was not intended as a compliment towards Cavanagh.

Never heard of him mentioned in those terms, and I'm a product of the 50's and 60's. He was called that in your world, not mine. Don't know why he was even called Detroit's first black mayor, when the Detroit Police Dept was 99.9% white. I know it wasn't meant as a compliment, whites said Bill Clinton was the 1st black president, as well. And who's whining? Just calling it like I see it. CAY gets a lot of undeserved vitriol on here. Was he perfect no, but he wasn't any worse than previous or current mayors.

[EASTSIDE CAT 67-83]

Farwell'
You Sir... hit the nail succinctly on the head 4 out of 5 [[I could not agree with your description of the African Americans as "new black immigrants" although you did revise your comments with an apology of a poor choice of words which I believe as a sincere explanation..but I digress)
My love affair with Detroit has never ended but my parents stayed too long and endured heart wrenching crimes ranging from physical assault to multiple break-ins of property loss and auto theft. The "straw" that got the moving truck in the driveway with a teary eyed family loading it up to move just a few blocks across the DMZ [[Alter road for them at the time '94) and move into a home and neighborhood that gave them the security of a warm blanket on cool night, was my mother who came home from work to a house that was turned upside-down not only did they steal but they had to make a mess while doing it, my Dad who was a hunter all his life had his entire collection of hunting rifles stolen [[wonder how many crimes were committed with those after the fact). The police never even came to the house, they simply said come down to the 5th [[St Jean and Jeff) and make a report. But above all the property loss, it was that feeling of being violated and having to leave the city you grew up in, raised a family in and loved. Real Detroiters feel the city in their bones, its a soulful part of their DNA. Mom and Dad came from the same neighborhood, mom-Belverdere, Dad Harding, they went to High School together [[Annunciation). Well I've ranted long enough but your Thread kinda hit home.

1. Property theft. [Crimes ranging from physical assault to multiple break-ins of property loss and auto theft]
2. Declining property values [They sold the home in '94 for just a few grand over what they paid for it back in '68]
3. Harassment and bullying by the black in the neighborhood targeted only toward white residents. [This started in the early mid 80s and progressively got worse year after year, the teenagers of the neighborhood didn't like to use sidewalks and made a game of how close they could get to my Dads car as he came home from work]
4. Decline of public schools. [We pulled out of DPS system when busing came along]
5. Loss of a sense of community. [It slowly slipped away]

Sad. My home from 1950-1975. Don't wish any ill will to the city but just don't care. Moved on a long time ago.

[Burnsie]

When my grandparents moved to Detroit in 1952 or '53, they looked at renting near the GM HQ where my grandfather worked, but the landlord told them he only rented to Jewish people. So, they moved into a duplex on Field St. at Vernor. In about 1954, the landlord told my grandmother that he decided he only wanted to rent to black people, so my grandparents and their three kids had to leave. That was their reward for paying the rent on time and being quiet tenants. Like in Dan Wesson's case, their white privilege had become a hindrance.

They then looked at houses on Grand Blvd near there. Indian Village appealed to them but it was too expensive. Ultimately they decided to move to Royal Oak.

[dtowncitylover]

Ultimately they decided to move to Royal Oak.

Where black Americans had to be out by sunset and couldn't get FHA loans to live.

[bust]

Had to look this up. Here's what I quickly found:

"When Black people began to migrate to Detroit in large numbers during the Great Migration, white Detroiters used racial restrictive covenants and other forms of housing discrimination to keep Black people out of certain neighborhoods. There were “sundown areas” in Detroit, that Black people had to stay out of before sundown.

Cass Corridor was a notorious sundown area. The same for the 8 Mile/VanDyke area.

A 6 foot high, half-mile long wall was even built between Birwood and Mendota from 8 Mile to Chippewa to segregate Black residents from white residents.

The wall is still there.

When white residents began to leave Detroit in the late 40s-early 50s to flee to the suburbs, Black people were kept out by redlining, steering, and other forms of discrimination.

The suburbs became “sundown towns,” Black people, even workers, had to be out of the town by sundown.

Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Royal Oak, Warren, East Detroit [[Eastpointe), the Grosse Pointes, Sterling Heights, Livonia, Westland and most notoriously – Dearborn – were ALL “sundown towns,” from the 1920s-1960s.

Even Ferndale was a “sundown town.” ..."


Gentrifying Detroit And Building Invisible Walls
https://detroitschooltalk.org/2017/0...visible-walls/

There's a bad editing error in there, but we get the idea.

[Zacha341]

^^^ Yes, my dad talked alot about how hard it was to find a home or rental options for the family. We stayed with family for a bit until a modest home was found not too far from the 'Barn' [[Olympia Stadium).

[preserve]

Never left Detroit, just moved from one neighborhood to another in search of schools. Stayed in Grandmont for the kids to graduate from SMR and
are now residing in the Corktown area. So our flight was just in search of a better education in the 60's & 70's.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Never left Detroit, just moved from one neighborhood to another in search of schools. Stayed in Grandmont for the kids to graduate from SMR and
are now residing in the Corktown area. So our flight was just in search of a better education in the 60's & 70's.

Glad to see you stuck it out. Are you happy you stayed, despite the decline that was happening with DPS at that time?

[preserve]

Cincinnati Kid: I couldn't think of anywhere else I wanted to reside. Still can't. Detroit is home.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Cincinnati Kid: I couldn't think of anywhere else I wanted to reside. Still can't. Detroit is home.

That's fair enough.