Detroit mayoral RACE politics

Terry_Clubbup · September 2005

The anonymous white drinker who runs http://detroitblog.org usually writes about exploring abandoned buildings, but occasionallyveers off into hockey and local politics.I don't live in Detroit or know these characters, but I am likingthis piece, because I usually like it when a writer stands on whatthey believe to be the mid-line and calls bullschitt on either side.Kind of like Frank Zappa's lyrics in "Trouble Every Day" on Freak Out.However, I'm wondering if it's only the anonymity that would allowone to use the phrase "black trash" in "print".The Detroit mayoral race:September 23rd, 2005 The region is still abuzz over last week???s mayoral debate, mostly due to Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick???s race-baiting, reminiscent of the political and social climate of Detroit in the Coleman Young years. He even got kneejerk Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson worked into a suburbanite froth, just like Coleman used to do! That???ll stick it to ???em!And that was precisely his intention, to tap into the Us vs. Them mentality that defined local politics in the 70s and 80s and still underlies a lot of local politics but which had faded somewhat thanks to concerted efforts by both sides.That???s Kwame???s only hope for reelection, to resuscitate the racial polarization of the 70s and 80s. He???s appealing to the poorest, least-educated Detroit residents, the same kind of people the country has been watching in New Orleans for a month. The hurricane in New Orleans instantly did to that city what has been happening in Detroit in slow-motion for a half-century: the people who could get out ??? rich and middle-class whites and middle-class blacks ??? fled, leaving a core ghetto of the poorest of the poor, those who are trapped even in the worst of disasters. In Detroit the educated, the affluent, the middle-class and even blue collar workers fled to the suburbs, leaving a core that grows more impoverished and unemployable as the educated and skilled leave at the rate of almost 15,000 per year, a core quite left out of the improvements downtown.One-third are dirt poor; one-half cannot properly read or write at an elementary school level. One-half. The difference is, in New Orleans almost all the educated and middle-class residents who left are coming back. In Detroit, almost all of them are gone forever. So despite this election, they???ve already voted ??? this time with their feet.The demeanor and body language of the candidates at the debate said it all ??? Kwame stood aggressively, spoke confrontationally using thug language, ???taking the gloves off??? as he once said, and was ???looking to hit someone??? as he said the night of the primary election. Less like a statesman and more like a gangster, a stance crafted to appeal to the crass emotions of the portion of the city???s population that is poor and largely illiterate.Then there was Freman Hendrix ??? professional, well-mannered, gentlemanly, almost aristocratic. To Kwame and many of his supporters this, among other things, makes Hendrix white.This is part of the self-defeating breed of ghetto mentality that educators cite repeatedly, that many black students think reading is ???white,??? that learning is ???white,??? that being a gentleman is ???white.??? It???s a tragic pathology that enforces the notion that ignorance is cool, a self-defeating mentality that sentences kids to stupidity and uselessness in a 21st-century society.That???s what Kwame is appealing to - the black trash vote. Obliquely accusing Hendrix of essentially being white and viewing Detroit school children as ???savages??? serves to portray Hendrix as a suburbanite or a pawn of the suburbanites (i.e. white outsiders), who are the enemy in the Old Detroit mindset. It???s the same technique some suburbanites use when referring to ???Detroiters??? when they speak of black people. It???s all not-at-all-subtle code language, and it???s the kind of thing Kwame hopes will lead him to a dirty victory. Then again, maybe Kwame is, sadly enough, the appropriate mayor for a city whose fleeing white and black middle class has made Detroit the poorest major city in the country, with one of its most illiterate, crime-ridden, and undereducated populations. In substance and style, and through what he strives to represent through his words and actions, Kwame is now the Thug Leader of the Ghetto. For someone who once aspired to be the country???s first black president, it is a shameful descent into the lowest of expectations. What a proud legacy.

dCastillo · September 2005

this shall not sink.

asprin · September 2005

Wow!! Great read Clubup. It raises a major issue in the black community that has yet to be properly addressed from within.

drewnice · September 2005

Yes, the situation in Detoit is really fucked up.

Kwame gave a lot of Detroiters hope - the idea that having a "keep it real" mayor would do good for the city. Approaching the end of his term, I don't think that is the case. Kwame embarassed the city and himself by using his status to wild out and basically just do his own thing. His attempt to literally paint Hendrix white is foul. I'm not sure if it's taken hold yet or working in his favor, as the tactic really kicked into gear after Hendrix whooped Kwame in the primaries recently. Now, the mayor is struggling to get off his ass, pull his pants up from around his ankles and trying to tuck his shirt in before anybody notices that he was in the shit house for so long. I can only assume that the city would in better hands with anybody else than Kilpatrik as their mayor.

And about the black trash comment,

SonicReducer · September 2005

The anonymous white drinker who runs http://detroitblog.org

usually writes about exploring abandoned buildings, but occasionally

veers off into hockey and local politics.

I don't live in Detroit or know these characters, but I am liking

this piece, because I usually like it when a writer stands on what

they believe to be the mid-line and calls bullschitt on either side.

Kind of like Frank Zappa's lyrics in "Trouble Every Day" on Freak Out.

However, I'm wondering if it's only the anonymity that would allow

one to use the phrase "black trash" in "print".

The Detroit mayoral race:

September 23rd, 2005

The region is still abuzz over last week???s mayoral debate, mostly due to Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick???s race-baiting, reminiscent of the political and social climate of Detroit in the Coleman Young years. He even got kneejerk Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson worked into a suburbanite froth, just like Coleman used to do! That???ll stick it to ???em!

And that was precisely his intention, to tap into the Us vs. Them mentality that defined local politics in the 70s and 80s and still underlies a lot of local politics but which had faded somewhat thanks to concerted efforts by both sides.

That???s Kwame???s only hope for reelection, to resuscitate the racial polarization of the 70s and 80s. He???s appealing to the poorest, least-educated Detroit residents, the same kind of people the country has been watching in New Orleans for a month. The hurricane in New Orleans instantly did to that city what has been happening in Detroit in slow-motion for a half-century: the people who could get out ??? rich and middle-class whites and middle-class blacks ??? fled, leaving a core ghetto of the poorest of the poor, those who are trapped even in the worst of disasters.

In Detroit the educated, the affluent, the middle-class and even blue collar workers fled to the suburbs, leaving a core that grows more impoverished and unemployable as the educated and skilled leave at the rate of almost 15,000 per year, a core quite left out of the improvements downtown.One-third are dirt poor; one-half cannot properly read or write at an elementary school level. One-half. The difference is, in New Orleans almost all the educated and middle-class residents who left are coming back. In Detroit, almost all of them are gone forever. So despite this election, they???ve already voted ??? this time with their feet.

The demeanor and body language of the candidates at the debate said it all ??? Kwame stood aggressively, spoke confrontationally using thug language, ???taking the gloves off??? as he once said, and was ???looking to hit someone??? as he said the night of the primary election. Less like a statesman and more like a gangster, a stance crafted to appeal to the crass emotions of the portion of the city???s population that is poor and largely illiterate.

Then there was Freman Hendrix ??? professional, well-mannered, gentlemanly, almost aristocratic. To Kwame and many of his supporters this, among other things, makes Hendrix white.

This is part of the self-defeating breed of ghetto mentality that educators cite repeatedly, that many black students think reading is ???white,??? that learning is ???white,??? that being a gentleman is ???white.??? It???s a tragic pathology that enforces the notion that ignorance is cool, a self-defeating mentality that sentences kids to stupidity and uselessness in a 21st-century society.

That???s what Kwame is appealing to - the black trash vote. Obliquely accusing Hendrix of essentially being white and viewing Detroit school children as ???savages??? serves to portray Hendrix as a suburbanite or a pawn of the suburbanites (i.e. white outsiders), who are the enemy in the Old Detroit mindset. It???s the same technique some suburbanites use when referring to ???Detroiters??? when they speak of black people. It???s all not-at-all-subtle code language, and it???s the kind of thing Kwame hopes will lead him to a dirty victory.

Then again, maybe Kwame is, sadly enough, the appropriate mayor for a city whose fleeing white and black middle class has made Detroit the poorest major city in the country, with one of its most illiterate, crime-ridden, and undereducated populations. In substance and style, and through what he strives to represent through his words and actions, Kwame is now the Thug Leader of the Ghetto. For someone who once aspired to be the country???s first black president, it is a shameful descent into the lowest of expectations. What a proud legacy.

I don't know who this turd is but if I find out, I'm going let him have Coleman Young style.

Two things, first I'd bet a minty Tribe record this person's white due to the fact they feel so free to criticize Detroit and its current situation without a solution or even an attempt at an understanding why things are the way they are. Why does acting like a thug work for Kwame? Why do "us" verse "them" politics work so well in Detroit? For those of you who don't know, Detroit is a very segregated city. It is the poorest city in the country and mainly black sitting smack dab next to Oakland County, one of the richest counties in the country and, oh yeah, it's mainly white. The statements made in this person's blog entry strike me as from someone who's never been one of "them", "those people", or "their kind". Detroiters have never trusted whitey (myself included and I'm white!) since the riots of the sixties. White flight and hostile suburban police forces and suburban city laws over the last 30 years have helped draw a division between "us" and "them". Most Detroiters, myself included, have had the feeling of being a criminal just by entering the openly hostile suburbs simply by being a resident of the city of Detroit. Give also that almost 20 of those 30 years since the riots have been under Republican leadership who generally favor white over black, south over north, suburban over urban, rich over poor, no wonder Detroiters have felt left out of "the great american dream".

Second, I'd make a side bet of Woodard's "Saturday Night Special" that this person is ether way young or from Oakland County or both. Detroiters who lived in the city during the late 70s and 80s loved Coleman Young almost as much as white suburbanites love to bag on him. He was as much a "black" mayor as he was a "Detroiter's" mayor. Oakland County and its whitebread suburbs have been operating under the belief that Detroit owes them something, maybe cause they're rich, maybe cause they're white, and Coleman stood up and gave them a giant sized "Fuck You". For a time in the 80s Detroit was the butt of every joke and the setting for every urban horror story. If you lived in the city, white or black, you felt like white america was against you. Coleman Young told them to go stick it where the sun don't shine, we don't need their fuckin' help, we're going to do this thing for ourselves, and oh yeah, fuck you and your momma too. This did not sit well with those residents on the other side of 8 Mile Road who were used to and profited from black people who could "stay in their place". As a white Detroiter in the 80s I felt like Coleman Young was standing up and speaking for me as much as was any other Detroiter, white or black. Those who did not experience this national prejudice against Detroiters (and its mostly black residents)still carry with them strong suburban pride and often miss this point and just repeat their frustrated secretly racist parent's rhetoric about Coleman.

Lastly , I'd like to say I don't support either mayor. One because I don't live in the city anymore so its none of my business, and second because neither of them have the strong character of Young or the suave tactics of Archer. But I will say this, the "suburbanite froth" Kwame got Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson into involved a statement that basically said white suburbanites do more drugs than inner-city kids and that there were just as much, if not more drugs in the wealthy and affluent high schools of Oakland County. Which is true, trust me. Oakland County and especially its uppercrust white people don't like to be reminded of that.

Oh yeah, and fuck a term like "black trash". That's some booooolshit. He should be laid out just for using it. Jive motherfucker.

Deep beats and deep crates,

SonicReducer

(TEAMAARON)

davesrecords · September 2005

The anonymous white drinker who runs http://detroitblog.org
usually writes about exploring abandoned buildings, but occasionally
veers off into hockey and local politics.

I don't live in Detroit or know these characters, but I am liking
this piece, because I usually like it when a writer stands on what
they believe to be the mid-line and calls bullschitt on either side.
Kind of like Frank Zappa's lyrics in "Trouble Every Day" on Freak Out.

However, I'm wondering if it's only the anonymity that would allow
one to use the phrase "black trash" in "print".

The Detroit mayoral race:

September 23rd, 2005

The region is still abuzz over last week???s mayoral debate, mostly due to Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick???s race-baiting, reminiscent of the political and social climate of Detroit in the Coleman Young years. He even got kneejerk Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson worked into a suburbanite froth, just like Coleman used to do! That???ll stick it to ???em!

And that was precisely his intention, to tap into the Us vs. Them mentality that defined local politics in the 70s and 80s and still underlies a lot of local politics but which had faded somewhat thanks to concerted efforts by both sides.

That???s Kwame???s only hope for reelection, to resuscitate the racial polarization of the 70s and 80s. He???s appealing to the poorest, least-educated Detroit residents, the same kind of people the country has been watching in New Orleans for a month. The hurricane in New Orleans instantly did to that city what has been happening in Detroit in slow-motion for a half-century: the people who could get out ??? rich and middle-class whites and middle-class blacks ??? fled, leaving a core ghetto of the poorest of the poor, those who are trapped even in the worst of disasters.

In Detroit the educated, the affluent, the middle-class and even blue collar workers fled to the suburbs, leaving a core that grows more impoverished and unemployable as the educated and skilled leave at the rate of almost 15,000 per year, a core quite left out of the improvements downtown.One-third are dirt poor; one-half cannot properly read or write at an elementary school level. One-half. The difference is, in New Orleans almost all the educated and middle-class residents who left are coming back. In Detroit, almost all of them are gone forever. So despite this election, they???ve already voted ??? this time with their feet.

The demeanor and body language of the candidates at the debate said it all ??? Kwame stood aggressively, spoke confrontationally using thug language, ???taking the gloves off??? as he once said, and was ???looking to hit someone??? as he said the night of the primary election. Less like a statesman and more like a gangster, a stance crafted to appeal to the crass emotions of the portion of the city???s population that is poor and largely illiterate.

Then there was Freman Hendrix ??? professional, well-mannered, gentlemanly, almost aristocratic. To Kwame and many of his supporters this, among other things, makes Hendrix white.

This is part of the self-defeating breed of ghetto mentality that educators cite repeatedly, that many black students think reading is ???white,??? that learning is ???white,??? that being a gentleman is ???white.??? It???s a tragic pathology that enforces the notion that ignorance is cool, a self-defeating mentality that sentences kids to stupidity and uselessness in a 21st-century society.

That???s what Kwame is appealing to - the black trash vote. Obliquely accusing Hendrix of essentially being white and viewing Detroit school children as ???savages??? serves to portray Hendrix as a suburbanite or a pawn of the suburbanites (i.e. white outsiders), who are the enemy in the Old Detroit mindset. It???s the same technique some suburbanites use when referring to ???Detroiters??? when they speak of black people. It???s all not-at-all-subtle code language, and it???s the kind of thing Kwame hopes will lead him to a dirty victory.

Then again, maybe Kwame is, sadly enough, the appropriate mayor for a city whose fleeing white and black middle class has made Detroit the poorest major city in the country, with one of its most illiterate, crime-ridden, and undereducated populations. In substance and style, and through what he strives to represent through his words and actions, Kwame is now the Thug Leader of the Ghetto. For someone who once aspired to be the country???s first black president, it is a shameful descent into the lowest of expectations. What a proud legacy.

I don't know who this turd is but if I find out, I'm going let him have Coleman Young style.

Two things, first I'd bet a minty Tribe record this person's white due to the fact they feel so free to criticize Detroit and its current situation without a solution or even an attempt at an understanding why things are the way they are. Why does acting like a thug work for Kwame? Why do "us" verse "them" politics work so well in Detroit? For those of you who don't know, Detroit is a very segregated city. It is the poorest city in the country and mainly black sitting smack dab next to Oakland County, one of the richest counties in the country and, oh yeah, it's mainly white. The statements made in this person's blog entry strike me as from someone who's never been one of "them", "those people", or "their kind". Detroiters have never trusted whitey (myself included and I'm white!) since the riots of the sixties. White flight and hostile suburban police forces and suburban city laws over the last 30 years have helped draw a division between "us" and "them". Most Detroiters, myself included, have had the feeling of being a criminal just by entering the openly hostile suburbs simply by being a resident of the city of Detroit. Give also that almost 20 of those 30 years since the riots have been under Republican leadership who generally favor white over black, south over north, suburban over urban, rich over poor, no wonder Detroiters have felt left out of "the great american dream".

Second, I'd make a side bet of Woodard's "Saturday Night Special" that this person is ether way young or from Oakland County or both. Detroiters who lived in the city during the late 70s and 80s loved Coleman Young almost as much as white suburbanites love to bag on him. He was as much a "black" mayor as he was a "Detroiter's" mayor. Oakland County and its whitebread suburbs have been operating under the belief that Detroit owes them something, maybe cause they're rich, maybe cause they're white, and Coleman stood up and gave them a giant sized "Fuck You". For a time in the 80s Detroit was the butt of every joke and the setting for every urban horror story. If you lived in the city, white or black, you felt like white america was against you. Coleman Young told them to go stick it where the sun don't shine, we don't need their fuckin' help, we're going to do this thing for ourselves, and oh yeah, fuck you and your momma too. This did not sit well with those residents on the other side of 8 Mile Road who were used to and profited from black people who could "stay in their place". As a white Detroiter in the 80s I felt like Coleman Young was standing up and speaking for me as much as was any other Detroiter, white or black. Those who did not experience this national prejudice against Detroiters (and its mostly black residents) or still carry with them strong suburban pride often miss this and just repeat their frustrated secretly racist parents rhetoric about Coleman.

Lastly, I'd like to say I don't support either mayor. One because I don't live in the city anymore so its none of my business, and second because neither of them have the strong character of Young or the suave tactics of Archer. But I will say this, the "suburbanite froth" Kwame got Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson into involved a statement that basically said white suburbanites do more drugs than inner-city kids and that there were just as much, if not more drugs in the wealthy and affluent high schools of Oakland County. Which is true, trust me. Oakland County and especially its uppercrust white people don't like to be reminded of that.

Oh yeah, and fuck a term like "black trash". That's some booooolshit. He should be laid out just for using it. Jive motherfucker.

Deep beats and deep crates,
SonicReducer
(TEAMAARON)

wow. knowledge dropped.

z_illa · September 2005

great response sonic.

Terry_Clubbup · September 2005

I'm glad some serious Detroiters chimed in.

There are no easy answers as to how to better the lot of
a locked-in, largely impoverished population.

But what often happens, when race and the history of racial relations
are part of the story, is that people are not allowed to speak openly
about it, and resort to talking around the subject, or often speaking
in "code" words. And it's his attempt at revealing the code-speak that
I found most interesting.

However, I think it is possible to speak/write openly without
resorting to epithets. Just because you're trying to speak without
code does not mean you have to call somebody "trash".

I would recommend that Detroiters and Michiganders go take a gander
at some of the other not-as-political posts on http://detroitblog.org

The guy seems to foster a complex brew of Detroit pride, Detroit
self-hatred, historic preservation and research, heavy drinking,
conservative politics, mistrust of authority and Red Wing fanhood.

The current post on the blog concerns the laughable results when a
group of "20 somethings" took over the Shelby Hotel for a year in
the early 70's to try to make it into some kind of swingers spot:

drewnice · September 2005

I'd bet a minty Tribe record this person's white due to the fact they...

Put Hockeytown ahead of Motown in the intro to their blog.

(Good stuff, Sonic)

Terry_Clubbup · September 2005

I'd bet a minty Tribe record this person's white due to the fact they...

Put Hockeytown ahead of Motown in the intro to their blog.

(Good stuff, Sonic)

See, now y'all are just disrespecfellatin' all of the black hockey fans.

gambit · September 2005

I don't know who this turd is but if I find out, I'm going let him have Coleman Young style.

Two things, first I'd bet a minty Tribe record this person's white due to the fact they feel so free to criticize Detroit and its current situation without a solution or even an attempt at an understanding why things are the way they are. Why does acting like a thug work for Kwame? Why do "us" verse "them" politics work so well in Detroit? For those of you who don't know, Detroit is a very segregated city. It is the poorest city in the country and mainly black sitting smack dab next to Oakland County, one of the richest counties in the country and, oh yeah, it's mainly white. The statements made in this person's blog entry strike me as from someone who's never been one of "them", "those people", or "their kind". Detroiters have never trusted whitey (myself included and I'm white!) since the riots of the sixties. White flight and hostile suburban police forces and suburban city laws over the last 30 years have helped draw a division between "us" and "them". Most Detroiters, myself included, have had the feeling of being a criminal just by entering the openly hostile suburbs simply by being a resident of the city of Detroit. Give also that almost 20 of those 30 years since the riots have been under Republican leadership who generally favor white over black, south over north, suburban over urban, rich over poor, no wonder Detroiters have felt left out of "the great american dream".

Second, I'd make a side bet of Woodard's "Saturday Night Special" that this person is ether way young or from Oakland County or both. Detroiters who lived in the city during the late 70s and 80s loved Coleman Young almost as much as white suburbanites love to bag on him. He was as much a "black" mayor as he was a "Detroiter's" mayor. Oakland County and its whitebread suburbs have been operating under the belief that Detroit owes them something, maybe cause they're rich, maybe cause they're white, and Coleman stood up and gave them a giant sized "Fuck You". For a time in the 80s Detroit was the butt of every joke and the setting for every urban horror story. If you lived in the city, white or black, you felt like white america was against you. Coleman Young told them to go stick it where the sun don't shine, we don't need their fuckin' help, we're going to do this thing for ourselves, and oh yeah, fuck you and your momma too. This did not sit well with those residents on the other side of 8 Mile Road who were used to and profited from black people who could "stay in their place". As a white Detroiter in the 80s I felt like Coleman Young was standing up and speaking for me as much as was any other Detroiter, white or black. Those who did not experience this national prejudice against Detroiters (and its mostly black residents)still carry with them strong suburban pride and often miss this point and just repeat their frustrated secretly racist parent's rhetoric about Coleman.

Lastly, I'd like to say I don't support either mayor. One because I don't live in the city anymore so its none of my business, and second because neither of them have the strong character of Young or the suave tactics of Archer. But I will say this, the "suburbanite froth" Kwame got Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson into involved a statement that basically said white suburbanites do more drugs than inner-city kids and that there were just as much, if not more drugs in the wealthy and affluent high schools of Oakland County. Which is true, trust me. Oakland County and especially its uppercrust white people don't like to be reminded of that.

Oh yeah, and fuck a term like "black trash". That's some booooolshit. He should be laid out just for using it. Jive motherfucker.

Deep beats and deep crates,
SonicReducer
(TEAMAARON)

Word.
This saves me a half hour of my life. I live in Detroit, about to move above 8 Mile, but I've been fighting with folks about this very issue for some time now. I even get into it with my girl, who's from an Oakland County suburb.

It's intriguing that someone has blog about raiding abandoned buildings in Detroit. That's the chic shit right now. It's the hipster thing to do is to come into the city, like entering the belly of the beast, examine what you find then leave and tell everyone about it. No one pulls out any books or really tries to figure anything out. We're just a cool social studies trip, even for the displaced suburbanites that do live within city limits.
I was already baffled by funk parties that go on in Detroit and there aren't many folks of color in the buidling. This current election only adds to the my perplexed state.
These are all symbols of the issues that Detroiters deal with every day.

I won't be changing my address officially until after the election. While I think Hendrix would better than Kwame, I want to see the person steering the new developments in the city to finish it. Then everyone can know to blame for what's wrong in the city.

Black trash... I guess this goes for everyone, even in Rosedale Park, Indian Village and Palmer Park. There's no affluent people in Detroit... none, right?

asprin · September 2005

(Good stuff, Sonic)

Yes!! Can't stress this sentiment enough.

hogginthefogg · September 2005

It's the hipster thing to do is to come into the Mission District of San Francisco or perhaps Lake Merritt in Oakland,[/b] like entering the belly of the beast, examine what you find then leave and tell everyone about it. No one pulls out any books or really tries to figure anything out. We're just a cool social studies trip, even for the displaced suburbanites that do live within city limits.

If you had to fill out an application to get your ghetto pass, you don't really have a ghetto pass. It's pretty telling that anybody not from the 'hood would want one in the first place.

"How can I be down?"

Jonny_Paycheck · September 2005

RIP mission district. Shit ain't the same.

peace, 'check . . .

gambit · September 2005

One thing though, the hip-hop mayor's back is to the wall. Current polls show that it's not much of a race. Hendrix, the challenger, has a healthy lead.

Desperation makes people do special things. Polarizing the region would be one of those special things. That man needs a better campaign manager.

gambit · September 2005

It's the hipster thing to do is to come into the Mission District of San Francisco or perhaps Lake Merritt in Oakland,[/b] like entering the belly of the beast, examine what you find then leave and tell everyone about it. No one pulls out any books or really tries to figure anything out. We're just a cool social studies trip, even for the displaced suburbanites that do live within city limits.

If you had to fill out an application to get your ghetto pass, you don't really have a ghetto pass. It's pretty telling that anybody not from the 'hood would want one in the first place.

Exactly.

The thing is, I really think all they want is the membership. They don't really want to be contributing members, which is the problem. I don't mind folks coming into the city. That's great. That's what cities are for... people can come visit, see some sights and bounce. But when your city isn't considered a place to do that, what's the point? We need folks to come help us fix this mess, not ogle and poke at it.

Terry_Clubbup · September 2005

I was already baffled by funk parties that go on in Detroit and there aren't many folks of color in the buidling.

I think that many folks of color do not prefer their funk to be
of the vintage variety.

We need folks to come help us fix this mess, not ogle and poke at it.

Well, there's ogling and poking, and then there's documenting.

In the case of detroitblog guy, he lives in the city full time and
often photographs buildings and houses that are soon to be demolished.
To me there's value in that.

Whether to draw more attention to historical preservation efforts, or
simply to document something astonishing, I don't see how one could
make the point that it would be better for everyone if noone
took pictures or talked about these kinds of things.

However, ZOOM OUT a frame or two, and consider the whole concept of
historical preservation in a troubled town.
Worth it at all?

Is preserving a 19th-century building facade in Detroit akin to
"rearranging the deck furniture on the Titanic" ?

Or is it more like, why bother taking photographs when there are
kids who need mentoring, and health clinics that need volunteers.

Well then, why collect records in Detroit?

gambit · September 2005

I was already baffled by funk parties that go on in Detroit and there aren't many folks of color in the buidling.

I think that many folks of color do not prefer their funk to be
of the vintage variety.

It's not just that. I tend to believe that folks of color are not exactly encouraged to come to them. I rhyme and promote shows on the side, so I'm not amazed by the racial issue in music. I just think it's interesting in Detroit since the places in the city are in the thick of the roughage.
I know the guys that dig up the funk records are historians in their own right. We all tell tales of meeting the artists and what not.

We need folks to come help us fix this mess, not ogle and poke at it.

Well, there's ogling and poking, and then there's documenting.

In the case of detroitblog guy, he lives in the city full time and
often photographs buildings and houses that are soon to be demolished.
To me there's value in that.

Whether to draw more attention to historical preservation efforts, or
simply to document something astonishing, I don't see how one could
make the point that it would be better for everyone if noone
took pictures or talked about these kinds of things.

However, ZOOM OUT a frame or two, and consider the whole concept of
historical preservation in a troubled town.
Worth it at all?

Is preserving a 19th-century building facade in Detroit akin to
"rearranging the deck furniture on the Titanic" ?

Or is it more like, why bother taking photographs when there are
kids who need mentoring, and health clinics that need volunteers.

Well then, why collect records in Detroit?

You'll have to excuse my passionate response earlier. The mayoral race tends to be a trigger with me, based on who I'm normally arguing with about it. This person may be working on helping Detroit towards becoming a better city. I'm not sure yet. I will check out the blog and find out.
I have read articles in our daily newspapers about the folks that explore abandoned buildings and it doesn't seem like there's much of a point, outside of the thrill. You can blame the media, but that's how the picture was painted mostly. Being a resident of the city where these people are taking their explorations, I feel like they're treating Detroit like a zoo.
Yeah, I'm all about preserving things, if it benefits the citizens of the city as a whole. Anyway... I'm going all over the place with this. I love Detroit. It's my home. It has many problems, but I'll defend my city regardless. Everyone is at fault with where the city is now, regardless of the media says.

Terry_Clubbup · September 2005

Detroiters are passionate in discussing the city,
probably as a result of the general level of struggle.

I just thought I'd throw this one more thing out there if
y'all are looking to stay informed with some actual passionate
Detroiters...it's a pretty great message board, say DetroitStrut,
where the arguments are often blistering, but you get at least
three sides to a story, which is what I like.

Discuss Detroit at the Fabulous Ruins of Detroit:

www.detroityes.com

If the mayoral race intrests you, might I recommend the
Mayoral Race Super Thread.*

Also see ~honkies exposed~ in the "Should I Ride The Bus?" thread.

*Hey RAJ or moder-hatters, can we get SUPERTHREADS on this UBB style?
It's where it looks like one thread but when you click on it it's a
bunch of different but relatted threads.

SonicReducer · September 2005

www.detroityes.com

Thanks for the link although it could get me in some trouble. I got opinions like Gambit's got mic skills - aplenty.

Also see ~honkies exposed~

That should be the title of a new reality show where they out code talking, quasi-rascists.

Peace,
Sonic

gambit · September 2005

Thanks for the link although it could get me in some trouble. I got opinions like Gambit's got mic skills - aplenty.

Peace,
Sonic

Heh, who's the rapper now?

Oh, and thanks Mr. Clubbup... I've been too lazy to seek out such message boards. A new place to create havoc = awesome.

Terry_Clubbup · November 2005

Well, schitt, I figured I'd pull this one out of the back of the
fridge, lift the lid and sniff at it...a chemical change has occur.

Since it is the DAY AFTER.

Here's what somebody on www.detroityes.com had to say about it all:

The one Mackinaw:

Giving up on a city is easier said than done, too.

I would have voted for Kwame. Needless to say, I am very happy with this result. The one governing reason for me is the pace of economic redevelopment. Perhaps is cyclical; perhaps it's way overdue. But Kwame has been at the helm and gone by the book when it comes to the politics of inner-city economic development. It started at the top with big ticket investments, and big event-getting; the second step is the residential sector redevelopment that has taken off really over the last 2-3 years with the torrid pace of rehabs. These next four years, I think it will be important to look for a trickle down, i.e. higher per capita income and more retail/small businesses in the neighborhood. These next four years also give the chance for Kwame to set the budget straight. If he can turn this around, he can secure a great legacy. I believe that by focusing on development-based revenue increases like Kwame has, we will be much better off in the long run.

Finally, I sense that Detroiters have gotten their pride and civic awareness back under Kwame. And while Kwame has been a huge turnoff to some suburbanities, the level of suburbanites who have an actual interest in Detroit seems to be increasing quickly.

Again, maybe it was bound to happen. But I couldn't find any reason to put a bureaucrat who lacks energy in when Kwame has gotten Detroit on the right track in more than one important way.

BTW, the chances of me moving into the city are much higher now than they would have been four years ago. To say that you are leaving because KK won is nuts.

the3rdstream · November 2005

Well, schitt, I figured I'd pull this one out of the back of the
fridge, lift the lid and sniff at it...a chemical change has occur.

Since it is the DAY AFTER.

Here's what somebody on www.detroityes.com had to say about it all:

The one Mackinaw:

Giving up on a city is easier said than done, too.

I would have voted for Kwame. Needless to say, I am very happy with this result. The one governing reason for me is the pace of economic redevelopment. Perhaps is cyclical; perhaps it's way overdue. But Kwame has been at the helm and gone by the book when it comes to the politics of inner-city economic development. It started at the top with big ticket investments, and big event-getting; the second step is the residential sector redevelopment that has taken off really over the last 2-3 years with the torrid pace of rehabs. These next four years, I think it will be important to look for a trickle down, i.e. higher per capita income and more retail/small businesses in the neighborhood. These next four years also give the chance for Kwame to set the budget straight. If he can turn this around, he can secure a great legacy. I believe that by focusing on development-based revenue increases like Kwame has, we will be much better off in the long run.

Finally, I sense that Detroiters have gotten their pride and civic awareness back under Kwame. And while Kwame has been a huge turnoff to some suburbanities, the level of suburbanites who have an actual interest in Detroit seems to be increasing quickly.

Again, maybe it was bound to happen. But I couldn't find any reason to put a bureaucrat who lacks energy in when Kwame has gotten Detroit on the right track in more than one important way.

BTW, the chances of me moving into the city are much higher now than they would have been four years ago. To say that you are leaving because KK won is nuts.

this all means nothing when the the state government takes over the city within a year or two

Terry_Clubbup · November 2005

Explain to a Lay Man what the term "receivership" means.

Is this something peculiar to Michigan?

the3rdstream · November 2005

this is from jan, but the only article i could find on short notice...

State to seize Detroit?Author
Diane Bukowski / Michigan Citizen
Date Created
06 Jan 2005
More details...
Date Edited
06 Jan 2005 11:51:38 PM
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Current rating: 1
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Copyright by the author. All rights reserved.
The ???R??? word ??? receivership ??? popping up in major media
DETROIT ??? As the New Year dawns, the specter of state receivership has raised its head in the debate over Detroit???s fiscal crisis, hot on the heels of a similar recommendation for the Detroit Public Schools.

???A state-appointed receiver could operate in the practical world, apart from politics,??? said Nolan Finley, editorial page editor of the Detroit News Dec. 12. ???The receiver would have the freedom to cut spending until it matches revenues by laying off city and school workers, eliminating services and closing schools, selling assets and going to court to force work rule changes.???

Finley followed up with another editorial and an appearance on the Sunday morning TV show ???Flashpoint??? on WDIV, again using the ???R??? word regarding Detroit.
Finley listed numerous negatives that would accompany a receivership, including image and investment problems for Detroit. He said it was the only chance for the city to erase its deficit.

???In the end [Detroit] may have to jettison half its work force over several years if it hopes to climb out of the red for good,??? Finley said.

Since the passage of the state???s Local Government Fiscal Responsibility Act 72 in 1990, the cities of Flint, Ecorse, Hamtramck, Highland Park, Muskegon Heights, River Rouge, and Royal Oak Township have either been placed in receivership or had various steps of the state review process leading to receivership exercised against them

Color correlates with takeover. Flint, Highland Park, Muskegon Heights and Royal Oak Township have majority Black populations. Ecorse and River Rouge are over 40 percent African American, while Hamtramck approaches 40 percent non-white in its mixture of various nationalities.

It was Senate Republican leader Ken Sikkema who called for the receivership process to be initiated against the DPS. Sikkema???s press secretary, Ari Adler, said no such discussion has yet been initiated in the state legislature regarding the city of Detroit.

???We???re waiting to see,??? he said. ???Mayor Kilpatrick has called for meetings, and the city council has asked to meet with the mayor. We consider this a local issue to be dealt with at this point.???

State Sen. Martha Scott pointed out problems with state takeovers.

???I would hope that we would do everything possible rather than receivership for Detroit. We still can???t see the light at the end of the tunnel in Highland Park, because we keep paying all these managers coming in from out of town huge salaries and travel fees,??? Scott said.

The president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber, Richard Blouse, who had not yet seen the editorial, was taken off-guard by it.

???We obviously are concerned about the city???s budget crisis,??? he said, ???but this is happening everywhere in cities, schools and states across the country. The issue is bigger than just Detroit. We would want to have more conversations with the mayor before making any comments.???

Under Act 72, a simple resolution from the state Senate or House of Representatives could trigger a preliminary review of a municipality???s finances, as could requests from city officials, major creditors, 10 percent of state electors, or pension fund officials.

The treasurer???s review team can declare a financial emergency if it reports that the city has defaulted on a bond or other debt, failed to pay compensation owed to employees for 30 days or more, failed to eliminate a fund deficit in two years, or racked up a general fund deficit exceeding 10 percent of budgeted revenues.

That could then lead to the appointment by the governor of a financial manager who would supplant elected officials.

Detroit???s chief financial officer, Sean Werdlow, has told the city council that the city faces a deficit of $216 million in fiscal year 2005-2006, which is 13.8 percent of the city???s general fund revenues of $1.57 billion this year.

City Council President Maryann Mahaffey, however, said the council has not yet seen documentation of the projected deficit, including figures showing the city???s tax collections for the final quarters of 2004, or a complete deficit reduction plan.

???I think this is a crisis, but I don???t know the extent of it and I don???t know how they???re arriving at it,??? she said.

Rather than the 2,000 to 3,000 layoffs being threatened, or passage of a $1.8 billion pension bond issue, Mahaffey said, ???I think we???ve done so much outsourcing that the time has come to look at the whole picture and see whether we???re saving or losing money. The City of Indianapolis has re-evaluated their privatization agenda and stopped contracting out. I???ve asked the Law Department, for instance, what it would take to stop the Infrastructure Management Group contract in the Water Department.???

Mahaffey also pointed to the problem of delinquent taxpayers, who she said are primarily slum landlords and big business interests, and on continued spending on new staff and departments by the mayor.

???We???ve proposed that the city limit all salaries to $100,000, and if need be, we can take that figure down to $90,000,??? she said. ???Let the mayor and his staff take days off without pay (DOWOP), and eliminate nepotism.???

Mahaffey said a state-wide task force set up last year when she chaired the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments is reviewing municipal financing by the state as well, targeting Proposal A, the Headlee Amendment, and reductions in state revenue sharing funds for local governments (see accompanying story on A5.)

Councilwoman JoAnn Watson said it is ironic that Finley is calling for the state to step in, because the state exacerbated Detroit???s financial problems when it took over the Detroit Public Schools.

???This reminds me of the same hyperbole that went on during that takeover,??? she said. ???Detroit???s problems are also related to the absolute crushing blow of the school takeover, which caused many parents to pack up their bags and leave the city, and the loss of thousands of school jobs during the recent lay-offs.???

emynd · November 2005

This is part of the self-defeating breed of ghetto mentality that educators cite repeatedly, that many black students think reading is ???white,??? that learning is ???white,??? that being a gentleman is ???white.??? It???s a tragic pathology that enforces the notion that ignorance is cool, a self-defeating mentality that sentences kids to stupidity and uselessness in a 21st-century society.

I find the existence of this self-defeating ghetto "pathology" to be highly suspect. Are there really that many black folks that think "reading" and "learning" are "white"? Isn't the reality of it more so that our education system isn't adequately equipped to really educate our nation's poor children (especially minority children) effectively?

I mean, where do people get this notion that black folks think it's "black" to be illiterate? Is this all just an extension of the ebonics debate or something? Are there irrefutable survey numbers that somehow suggest that black folks think "literacy" is "white" and "illiteracy" is "black"?

I don't doubt that there are some black folks with a skewed sense of "priorities," but this "cult of victimization" BS and this "It's cool to be stupid" schitt just sounds like a scheme to blame these folks for their own situation in order to absolve ourselves from any sense of guilt or responsibility.

I hate that schitt.

-e

gambit · November 2005

Explain to a Lay Man what the term "receivership" means.

Is this something peculiar to Michigan?

It just means the state will run the city. I can't imagine Michigan would be the only state that has such a feature.

We'll see what state Detroit's in after the Super Bowl. I'm sure the revenue from that will help out immensely, at least give some breathing room.
I'm not mad at Kwame winning. Freman Hendrix lives in my parents' neighborhood. I've been over to his home. I've never gotten the impression that he'd be a fantastic mayor. I've even probed him about it when he first announced he was running for mayor. He just didn't have any answers.

Metropolitan Detroit has more problems than just the selection of a mayor. It's okay though. 30% of Detroiters want to move. That gives more room for the suburbanites living on landfills to be able to find choice housing in the city. That's what we all want, right?

gambit · November 2005

Did anyone see the whitest town in America (Livonia, MI) vote to not have the Metro Detroit SMART bus system run through their city limits? This is the same town that did not want a Walmart to keep the "wrong clientele" out.

See, this is what I'm talking about...

the3rdstream · November 2005

This is part of the self-defeating breed of ghetto mentality that educators cite repeatedly, that many black students think reading is ???white,??? that learning is ???white,??? that being a gentleman is ???white.??? It???s a tragic pathology that enforces the notion that ignorance is cool, a self-defeating mentality that sentences kids to stupidity and uselessness in a 21st-century society.

I find the existence of this self-defeating ghetto "pathology" to be highly suspect. Are there really that many black folks that think "reading" and "learning" are "white"? Isn't the reality of it more so that our education system isn't adequately equipped to really educate our nation's poor children (especially minority children) effectively?

I mean, where do people get this notion that black folks think it's "black" to be illiterate? Is this all just an extension of the ebonics debate or something? Are there irrefutable survey numbers that somehow suggest that black folks think "literacy" is "white" and "illiteracy" is "black"?

I don't doubt that there are some black folks with a skewed sense of "priorities," but this "cult of victimization" BS and this "It's cool to be stupid" schitt just sounds like a scheme to blame these folks for their own situation in order to absolve ourselves from any sense of guilt or responsibility.

I hate that schitt.

-e

living around a bunch of dumb hicks for the last year or so and working in the area for the last five, i can tell you this has nothing to race, american society in general does not put a whole lot of stock in being edumicated

the3rdstream · November 2005

Did anyone see the whitest town in America (Livonia, MI) vote to not have the Metro Detroit SMART bus system run through their city limits?

yes its ridiculous

hammertime · November 2005

But I will say this, the "suburbanite froth" Kwame got Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson into involved a statement that basically said white suburbanites do more drugs than inner-city kids and that there were just as much, if not more drugs in the wealthy and affluent high schools of Oakland County. Which is true, trust me. Oakland County and especially its uppercrust white people don't like to be reminded of that.

Oh yeah, and fuck a term like "black trash". That's some booooolshit. He should be laid out just for using it. Jive motherfucker.

Deep beats and deep crates,

SonicReducer

(TEAMAARON)

Here's what the mayor said verbatim:

"In Birmingham, in Bloomfield Hills and all these places they do more meth, they do more ecstasy and they do more acid than all the schools in the city of Detroit put together."

It may very well be true, but it's just a bit out of line for a mayor to pull statements like this out of his ass with nothing to back them up.

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