Detroit “The Truth”

Just for everyone’s information I consider myself and “Equal Opportunity Offender” meaning I try to offend everyone equally, hence I don’t buy into the race card ever being played.

I was born and raised in the Detroit area, first generation here. I have also had the good fortune of traveling and working all over the world, so I am in now way sheltered. We have multi-level issues from losing industrial industry, to racial tensions.

What most people don’t know about Detroit currently is that most of the large buildings downtown, and deserted neighborhoods that are being leveled, have been purchased by very wealthy entities. This same wealthy group has already spent billions and billions for redevelopment, some of which have already been completed. Why, If Detroit is such a S-hole?

There are many things going on in the Detroit area, on many levels, but change is constantly happening for the better.

It started to simmer long before the 1967 riots, because of the racial divide that had grown for years between whites and blacks, but in early hours on July 23, 1967 the beginning of mass exodus from Detroit of whites was about to begin.

en.wikipedia.org...

The 12th Street riot was a civil disturbance in Detroit that began in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 23, 1967. The precipitating event was a police raid of an unlicensed, after-hours bar then known as a blind pig, on the corner of 12th and Clairmount streets on the city's Near West Side. Police confrontations with patrons and observers on the street evolved into one of the deadliest and most destructive riots in American history, lasting five days and surpassing the violence and property destruction of Detroit's 1943 race riot, which occurred 24 years earlier
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To help end the disturbance, Governor George Romney ordered the Michigan National Guard into Detroit, and President Lyndon B. Johnson sent in Army troops. The result was forty-three dead, 467 injured, over 7,200 arrests, and more than 2,000 buildings destroyed.

From the end of the riots most non-whites began moving out, since the hatred was still festering on both sides and the suburbs had much to offer.

Since 1974 to nearly the present Detroit has been plagued by extremely corrupt Mayor’s the first being Mayor Coleman Young, and then his predecessor who is now in Jail (Kwame Kilpatrick), there was another Mayor after Coleman Young but they ran him out, due to his logical non-corrupt plans he had for Detroit (Mayor Archer). Much of the federal, local and state money for years was embezzled by the previous administrations, thus pushing the majority of sensible residents who had options out of the city, hence the slow delapitation of Detroit for over 40 plus years.

Currently, Detroit has an extremely strong Mayor at the helm now (Dave Bing), What I can say is the current Mayor of Detroit is a fine businessman, successful on every level and Mayor who is cleaning the city up on a scale never seen before, unfortunately he is having to deal with legacy issues of the previous administrations, but seems to be doing it very well. Mayor Bing is heavy handed at times, but that is what is currently needed and be received well by the majority of Detroit residents.

Commercial and residential areas that needed to be torn down and cleaned up are happening, 30,000+ homes are slated to be torn down in the next 18 months. Yes Detroit has inner city areas that look like small open farm areas now, but it was better than dilapidated houses and debris everywhere.

Another thing many people outside of Detroit, Michigan don’t see, is that it’s currently being bought up by some of the wealthiest people in the world, starting with Mike and Marian Ilitch founders of Little Caesars pizza to start. And many more who are currently unnamed as international corporations, but swallowing up large chucks of Detroit. Some of the run down areas have already been complete transformed into brand new neighborhoods, but we have a long way to go.

People keep running from problems and blaming others, but the fact is this is just a mirror of our own selves whether we are black, white, red, yellow, or whatever race. The problems will always follow us wherever we go and try to hide.

What we now see is the poor blacks who have been displaced by the lack of housing, now in the inner city of Detroit, are now moving into other cities, many of which are not in Michigan, so problems don’t go away they just seem to travel new areas.

As a county we focus on destruction and enforcing democracy in other countries, but in retrospect we can’t even tend the sheep and mend our own houses we have here. What hypocrisy, it is to the highest and most arrogant degree.

With all of the trillions of dollars we have spend, a portion would have help to educate the ignorant masses that need to learn a new way of life, but we spend trillions on wars, and 50 to 100k per inmate, instead of a proactive approach community approach. People need to work together again.

I went to schools here in the Detroit area, and was fortunate enough to go to both public and private institutions, the private institutions had both white, black, Hispanic, etc…but the inner city schools in Detroit were predominately black and in complete chaos. A few black families chose to send their children to private Catholic schools and make huge sacrifices to give their children a stable learning environment, this was 30 years ago. The results, well those young black children that I still remain close to today, are productive members of society and all hold high paying jobs, so what does this tell us?

It’s all mainly about a stable educational systems, with parents that actually care about their children, people need a sense of pride and stability, but what we give many poor people these days is pity and welfare. Once people are in this state of,” I deserve this handout”, it is hard to get out (Victim Mentality).

Detroit is actually in better condition than it was 5 years ago, not from an economic standpoint but from a cleanup standpoint and getting better every day. Yes, a hidden agenda seems to remain for downtown property and neighborhoods close by, but it is taking people that care to transform this once thriving city into a new way of life.

In conclusion, Detroit will never be the same, nor will any other city because that is the dynamics of the world in which we live, constant change. Most people in this world run from problems, because they don't know how to solve them or even want to, but the fact of the matter is, no matter where you run problems will follow. One day people will tire of running, and the problems will have grown so big and disproportionate that they will not have the energy to deal with the issues, well kind of like the situation we are all in now "World Wide"

Detroit is a just mirror of everyone of us, our current mind set, where ever we are right now. Dilapidation is not just buildings and physical structures, but internal as well, and that is what most people are feeling now worldwide and why they resonate/relate with Detroit’s falling structures. It is up to each individual to live in the “Now” because every day we get up and begin a new moment, new beginning, and learning from the our past and doing what is internally right, can now mold our futures for the better.

Many people cry and continue to cry over spilled milk, but what is done is done, if we all run around with a victim mentality, then that is all we will ever be. Let’s chose a different path and empower ourselves so we actually have a chance to change our lives for the better, so what do you choose? A Victim Role, or Self-Empowerment.

Happy New Year I have faith because I choose Self-Empowerment

Signing off from Detroit

RealTruth

You seemed to have a lot of heart in this thread. For that I applaud you. I wish you and the city of Detroit the best of a future.

Good luck

Originally posted by Myendica
You seemed to have a lot of heart in this thread. For that I applaud you. I wish you and the city of Detroit the best of a future.

Good luck

We have a long way to go, but I see so many pockets of people pulling together because they are just fed up with the BS.

Detroit sits central to almost everything in the USA and Canada, the border to Canada is right there in Downtown Detroit, the river front property is beautiful when looking into Canada. And we share access to the most fresh water in the world.

The farm land is some of the best in the world in Michigan, that is why it was settled early on and why Detroit the city started, because all the best farm land was taken up first then built upon quickly, then turned into cities. Now we return to farm lands, kind of ironic.

A new way of life is being sought after by almost everyone in the world, most people are sick of their current MO and the way the world is currently being run.

Detroit has just as much of an opportunity to reform as anyone else, maybe even more so because we know what does not work.

reply to post by Realtruth


I personally think it makes more sense for wealthy people to buy it up, when it is in shambles, not when it is in good shape. Afterall, its about investment. Buy low, sell high. Just like what happened in Watts and Compton.

Nice post except I disagree with you about the whole "everyone is running from their problems" thing. You say that after you go through your post saying how the ultra wealthy are buying up parts of Detroit to fix it. Well you know what? Most people aren't ultra-wealthy. Most people are not mayors or politicians. All these people that are "running away" are not empowered by our society to fix things. They have been denied access to the resources to do so through out of control capitalism.

I'm all for everyone doing what they can, and most certainly a proponent of self empowerment, but you have shown a certain disconnect from the common man.

Originally posted by pirhanna
Nice post except I disagree with you about the whole "everyone is running from their problems" thing. Y

Great catch, I posted that content on purpose to show the disconnect. History appears to be repeating itself, yet people stand by and watch things happen.

People are still in denial of doing things and those in control are doing for them again, but who is to blame?

The people that have the money or the masses that allow money to be made off of them?

Piranha,

I think that a new way of life will need to be developed without profit off of a fellow man, meaning those at the top and those doing nothing at the bottom, how this will come about I do not know.

What I do know is that it will take each person to completely change their current way of life.

What destroyed Detroit is the destruction of the auto industry where middle class jobs where occupied by HS graduates.

Consequently the college graduate job market was not replenished by the layed off auto workers and they lost everything from their homes to any possibility of them getting better jobs in the college graduate culture of corporate America.

This was most likely a deliberate plot in the ongoing plan to destroy the American middle class.

Originally posted by inforeal
What destroyed Detroit is the destruction of the auto industry where middle class jobs where occupied by HS graduates.

The middle class was created by the same corporations and banks, that appears to be destroying them, so how to counter this attack and empower each person?

Different way of life or keep the same MO.

If everything is controlled by the corporations, governments and banks what is left for us to control paying bills?

Ask yourself this question, is your current way of life sustainable?

Thanks for the excellent input thus far very thought provoking.

Here is what is going on in Detroit in many areas. Before and After pics and mainly down sizing everywhere.

www.businessinsider.com...

Before picture of a part of Detroit

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/6ec121f8b86d.jpg[/atsimg]

After picture of a part of Detroit

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/b1c72e55b086.jpg[/atsimg]

Actual picture

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/396392159efe.jpg[/atsimg]

A great article on where Detroit is headed and what some of the issues are we face.

Yes just what I was saying shrinking back to it's Urban core and people growing food in the inner city.

In this case many area's of Detroit are turning into farm plots, has anyone even stop[ed to think that maybe that is how the world should actually be. Communities set to actually sustain themselves with tillable land and less unsustainable concrete parking lots.

Maybe kids will actually start to learn that grains come from plants, instead of boxes, and that they can grow their own food instead of waiting for government subsidies.

www.urbanophile.com...

This isn’t just a crazy idea from some guy who lives in California. He documents several examples of people right now, today growing food in Detroit. It wouldn’t surprise me, frankly, if Detroit produces more food inside its borders today than any other traditional American city

reply to post by Realtruth


So, what testing is done on the soil being used to grow this food?
Lead paint, asbestos and god know what else is in that soil.

While I applaud the effort to revitalize a neighborhood, it seems a trifle unhealthy to be growing food on these properties.

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
reply to post by Realtruth

 

So, what testing is done on the soil being used to grow this food?
Lead paint, asbestos and god know what else is in that soil.

You make a great point, soil testings will need to be done is some areas, it is only certain areas close to industrial and commercial areas that are polluted beyond usefulness and even this soil can be cleaned.

I would wager that the dirt in Detroit is cleaner than most of the pesticides, that are used and sprayed directly, on the majority of the crops we currently consume.

Lead is not taken up be the plants so no worries there, but soil would most like need to be washed from tubers.

www.extension.umn.edu...

Care will need to be taken and people working together, but Detroit can be a pioneer in what may inevitably transpire worldwide.

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