Detroit - A second look

 

 

 

 

"Abandon hope, all ye who live here..."

"Motown" - home of good soul music, the Tigers, the Lions, many great car companies. What in the world has happened? Many think the change really started in 1967 when the great Detroit riots took place. Actually, the riots of 1967 were the most famous (or infamous), but were not the first time Detroit had race riots (there were some in the 1940's as well.)

We are quickly approaching the anniversary of the 1967 riot. This coming Tuesday will be the 46th anniversary of that very sad event. What started as a raid on a unlicensed, after hours bar quickly turned into a melee of a frightening magnitude of social unrest . It lasted five full days and required assistance from the National Guard and the United States Army to restore order. When it was all said and done, 43 were dead, over a thousand wounded, and 2,000 buildings destroyed. It was in that year that Detroit first knew it was in trouble. The carnage it suffered resembled more of a Third World country than a major manufacturing city in the United States.

The city never really recovered from those riots. The scars ran very deep. Many businesses refused to rebuild. In the 1970's, the tradition of Devil's Night (which had been around for decades) took a more ominous turn. October 30th every year was a "prank night". However, in the 1970's the pranks turned into arson. The arson mostly affected Detroit's inner-city neighborhoods as there were hundreds of acts of arson and vandalism every year.

Many businesses which suffered arson threw up the white flag - the "I am done" flag. They refused to rebuild. Many of the businesses were in the inner city where businesses were needed the most. This was the start of not only the "white flight" out of Detroit, but also the "green flight" (the money flight). The city was starting to "hollow out". Nobody wanted to live in the bowels of Detroit, as it was no longer safe. Poverty escalated, unemployment was high, and hope was abandoned. It was now just a matter of time.

Today, with Detroit in Bankruptcy, is anyone really surprised? This is a city which has been on life support for decades now. It is a city what hates itself. It is a city that has been run into the ground by mismanagement, over commitments and graft. It is a city which had chosen to burn itself rather than rebuild itself. People with any resources are long gone. People without the resources are stuck in a city plagued by constant crime and disorder. Not even the police can control it, as the average response time is close to an hour.

So here it is folks. A city on the Canadian border that at one time housed 2,000,000 people and employed tens of thousands, now sits burned out and empty. It is a national embarrassment. It is 18 billion in debt and counting. Debts unpaid and thousands of retirements in jeopardy. Will bankruptcy help? Probably not. It would require taking some very strong financial medicine. If the citizens are going to burn down the town in good times, what in the world are they going to do in tough times. To the poor souls who remain, I cans only say this - Abandon hope, all ye who live here, for help is not on the way.