Suburbs critical of Detroit get a taste of what really drained city

[Retroit]

Irvine Laird, thanks for your response. I've read the book and fully acknowledge that there are many, many Detroiters, black and white, who are wonderful, hard working, law-abiding people devoted to their family and neighborhood. But there are also many people who do not fit this category, and I think any honest Detroiter will admit that, because they see it first-hand. It's a matter of numbers.

The article claimed economics as the sole cause of Detroit's problems and that was the focus of my response. You can find good and bad in every community, but this has less to do with income than it does with personal values. My grandparents who came from Europe were dirt-poor and faced many bouts of unemployment, yet they wouldn't stand for some of the lame "economic" excuses being thrown up in defense of bad Detroiters.

[ghettopalmetto]

The article claimed economics as the sole cause of Detroit's problems and that was the focus of my response. You can find good and bad in every community, but this has less to do with income than it does with personal values. My grandparents who came from Europe were dirt-poor and faced many bouts of unemployment, yet they wouldn't stand for some of the lame "economic" excuses being thrown up in defense of bad Detroiters.

And your grandparents, who were presumably white, did not face employment discrimation based on their race as black migrants from the South did. What kind of values do you think are passed on by someone who has difficulty finding work sweeping floors in a factory?