20 | NOVEMBER 12 • 2020
I
n 1950, Albert Cobo
became mayor of Detroit
with a promise to stop
the “Negro
invasion” of
the city’
s white
neighborhoods.
On Nov. 4,
some 70 years
later, a scene
unfolded
outside TCF
Center — what used to be
called Cobo Hall — that the
building’
s former namesake
would’
ve been proud of: an
aggrieved mass of people
trying to halt the counting
of ballots in a now majority-
Black city.
I had been spending
Wednesday as I imagine
most people were — trying
to focus on whatever tasks
could keep my mind off the
election and my thumb off
my phone. Taking clothes
and shoes to Council Resale
in Berkley (now accepting
drive-up donations daily),
getting my son ready for his
first ice hockey practice (Go
Falcons!), baking.
In a matter of minutes
Wednesday afternoon, I
received a dozen messages
with variations of:
“We need lawyers in
Michigan to go to TCF
Hall in Detroit to be
Democratic challengers.
There are swarms of GOP
challengers challenging
absentee ballots aggressively,
as of noon Wednesday.
Who do you know that’
s a
lawyer registered to vote in
Michigan that can go help
protect our votes?”
Challenge accepted! I
grabbed my break-in-case-
of-emergency navy blazer
and drove downtown for the
first time in some time.
I arrived at 4:30 to find
a substantial crowd in
the plaza at Washington
Boulevard and Jefferson
familiar to Turkey Trot
runners and people who
don’
t want to pay for food at
the Auto Show.
Almost without exception,
you could identify the
partisan divide based
on whether people were
wearing masks. Some, like
the gentlemen who appeared
to be chaperoning a group
from Hillsdale College, had
theirs dangling indefinitely
from one ear or tucked into
chinstrap mode.
The press may have
outnumbered the Trump
supporters — or at least the
ones who were willing to talk
to them. A handful clearly
relished the media attention,
taking short breaks to
hydrate before summoning
more righteous indignation.
One man made the case to a
reporter that Joe Biden was a
war criminal.
There were hand-drawn
arrows taped to the inside of
the glass walls that pointed
nowhere in particular. A
group of lawyers gathered
together and followed the
organizers’
instructions
to — like the punchline of
a bad joke — do nothing.
They were at capacity inside,
both for ballot-challenging
and COVID-19 purposes,
we were told, and we should
stand by in case they could
get us in.
A woman inside held a
cardboard box up to the
glass that read, “Prez Trump
wants U to chant STOP THE
COUNT.”
The opposing chants that
ensued — stop the count vs.
count the votes — blended
together to the point they
were difficult to tell apart.
Around the time Fox
News called Michigan for
Biden, the chanting mostly
dissipated.
But the crowd lingered,
peering through the glass
and plying volunteers with
questions as they left, the
image of “COBO” still faintly
visible on the building’
s
facade.
The scene at TCF Center as
Michigan’s fi
nal votes were tallied.
Count
the Stops
BEN FALIK
BEN FALIK
Ben Falik
Columnist
At the TCF
Center, Nov. 4.
ESSAY
Counter-protesters urge
officials to “Count Every Vote.”