Quote Originally Posted by Wesley Mouch View Post
I liked CAY in many ways, and am glad to dispel the idea that he 'caused' the crisis. It was indeed far more complex than that.

Though I'll defend CAY in many ways, I do think that his leadership was divisive in many ways. More than anyone else, he created the atmosphere of mistrust between the city and suburbs. I know he was the product of his environment -- and the victim of racism of the worst kind by people like the church who should have done us better -- but nonetheless he didn't provide the leadership that might have healed the city. Instead he divided us.
Any more than say, Orville Hubbard? I'd say that Young was a black reflection of Hubbard, but that would not be true. Hubbard was MUCH MORE openly, outwardly and publically racist in his rhetoric yet I've never heard anyone either say or imply that he was responsible for the divide between the cities and suburbs.

I think that was just a reflection of the times, as well as the population. Remember the region was full of migrants, many from South, who were raised in the Jim Crow era. Most of which were not highly educated. For many of them Coleman Young was a convenient scapegoat to justify existing opinions. Granted he did little to try to mend any fences or extend any olive branches but I have a hard time blaming him for the animosity that existed between the races.