Detroit - 40 years after the 1967 riot
24 July 2007 by Sandy, csj
The past several weeks have been a time of introspection for many of us living in the metro Detroit area as we attempt to assess how far we have come since those frightening days in July, 1967. I personally had very little knowledge of what happened at the time, being only 9 years old and living quite a sheltered life in a small northwestern Ohio town.
However, when I arrived in Detroit in 1976 to begin my university studies, people were still talking about the riot and the impact it had on the area surrounding the university.
Today, the metro Detroit area is considered to be the most racially segregated area in the U.S. A lot of folks blame the riots for the mass exodus of white people leaving the city for more distant suburbs. What many don’t realize is that the “white flight” phenomenon began long before 1967, and that problems of housing discrimination (blessed by the federal government), unemployment, and police brutality had long afflicted many Black Detroiters.
If you want to get a sense of how far back these problems went, I highly recommend the book by Kevin Boyle, “Arc of Justice.” He chronicles the trial of Ossian Sweet, a black physician who was charged with murder in the 1920’s after he moved into a white neighborhood. It’s compelling reading…
So…where are we today? Unfortunately, there are still many problems facing Detroit, and the high level of segregation doesn’t do much to build trust across racial lines. As I mentioned in a comment on my last post, I think we humans tend to fear what we do not understand. Unfortunately, instead of banishing that fear by seeking information, many tend to select (mis)information that reinforces the fear of people who are different than they are. And I may be showing my bias here, but I think most of the learning and listening needs to be done by those of us who are white.
Still, there are many in the area who deeply care about who we are as a community, and who are working to overcome the problems that keep us separate. I have to hope that the sincere goodwill of the many who are working for a better Detroit will be enough to overcome many of the problems we face.
When Martin Luther King was assassinated I was living in Chicago, and had a two-year-old child who was in the hospital with a concussion. The rioting had started, everyone told us not to drive to the hospital because there would be problems. I did not care; I had to be with my daughter. Her room was facing west and we could see the west side of Chicago burning. My thought was my God what is happening…you have SOME no gooders, destroying businesses, home and lives of innocent people. People who were probably taking care of my daughter at the hospital. But we tend to look at a situation and not see the human element. We just see faceless people, cause then we don’t have to deal with it, cause they don’t look like us, or they don’t have the same education, or their not the same religion, or they don’t have the same sexual preferences that we do, or social economic standing. But you cannot keep depriving people of their dignity because their different, they will rise up and want justice. Every conversation that has been started on this blog has been about us wanting to be respected, and listen too. We’re not all going to be rich, overly educated, but we all can be listen too and respected, and then we’ll truly be living the most important lesson God wants us to live, “Love one another.” Sometimes I just don’t know were to start, but then I think I just have to start with myself that the first step for all of us…
Well said…you used the phrase “rise up and want justice.” In my effort not to go on too long with the original post, I didn’t mention that there are some historians who call what happened in Detroit in 1967 a “rebellion” rather than a “riot.”
This in no way excuses the looting and arson that Detroiters inflicted on each other. It is merely an example of how violence begets violence.
It seems the more I see in this world, the more I read about happening in this world, the more confused I get. I was a banker for over 33 years and during that time I met people from, I would believe every culture, of every color and of every social and economic status. I have seen from my own experiences people are people, simple as that. Thoughts and beliefs may vary but when you get down to the heart of it, none of that matters, people are people all the same. Each and everyone deserves to be treated with the same dignity and respect no exceptions.
Some times I wish I could wipe the slate of history clean, start everything anew. But then I realize it is through history and our past mistakes we can learn how to hopefully make tomorrow better. But we just don’t seem to be learning.
I think it is as was said, a large part of our problems stem from fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of anything or anyone we see as being different. This fear stops us from even trying to understand the differences. What we don’t understand we have a harder time accepting.
To change this I think we each individually have to start with ourselves. Can we bring about change by setting our own example for others to see, I think so, I hope so
Bill, I desperately hope so, also.
This has been a period of remembraces of the ‘67 riots, first locally in Newark and then gradually moving around. NJ marked the Newark anniversary first then the Plainfield one. Reflecting back on forty years, we really need to pause and reflect on what has changed and what hasn’t and ask ourselves how do we hold ourselves accountable for what hasn’t changed.
Hmmm!?! Detroit is the most segregated city in the U.S. The population of that city was increasing rapidly until about 1950, and has since decreased by nearly 820,000.
Between 1973 and 1994 - the Coleman Young era - Detroit’s population decreased by about 500 thousand, accounting for more than 60% of the total population loss. His twenty years in office represents only 35% of the time since 1950, yet the population loss is just over 60%.
Coleman Young was very vocal in his disdain for white Detroit and spend his twenty years working to drive them and their businesses out. It worked, and unfortunately for Detroit, Young’s legacy continues under Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
Certainly, Coleman Young was a controversial man who had a confrontational style that was not helpful in building bridges across city/suburban lines. On the point of whether or not he worked to drive whites out of Detroit, I’m not convinced that he had that intent. Is there any direct evidence of this?
I’ve lived here for all of Kwame Kilpatick’s time in office, and I must admit that in my mind, he doesn’t measure up to Dennis Archer. I think he has made some colossal blunders, and I wonder about the ethics of some of the things he has done. But an intent to drive out whites…well, I’m not sure I’ve seen any direct evidence of that. I do think he may be too quick to play the race card when he is confronted about some inept or unethical thing he may have been involved in, and I do agree that this is NOT the way to move forward together as a region.