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8B Wednesday, February 2, 2011 // The Statement
PERSONALSTATEMENT
DEVOTED TO DETROIT
THE PRIDE FOR A CITY
W IT H A BAD REPUTATION
BY ALEXIS SMITH
hometown is a vital aspect
of your identity, and most
people have pride for some
place that they've lived. How-
ever, some cities are difficult to
be proud of. Detroit, Michigan
is rich in American history, both
good and bad. It was Michigan's
original capitol and the original
home of the University'of Michi-
gan. As the birthplace of Motown,
the center of the American auto-
mobile industry and a significant
component of the Underground
Railroad, Detroit has had a rich
history.
Over recent decades, Detroit
has gained abad reputation among
its neighboring cities as well as the
rest of the country. A high crime
rate as a result of increasing pov-
erty keeps the evening news bleak.
Every journalist and documentar-
ian loves to expose the "struggling
ghettos of Motor City." It some-
times seems they revel in a crum-
bling city that once thrived. I am
fully aware of its flaws. Some cit-
ies are difficult to love.
I was born in Detroit's east
side. I was raised on Detroit's
west side. I attended Detroit Pub-
lic Schools from kindergarten to
DETROIT
From Page 5B
"Kind of like what you guys are
doing in Detroit?" I asked. It's a
leading question, and she knows it.
She looks at me and smirks and
explains that Detroit is different
than everyone believes.
"(In Detroit) we're all walking
down the street, and we're going to
different places," Solowy said as she
plasters a piece of the local Span-
ish newspaper to the bullfrog mold.
"But we're all walking down the
same street."
WHO ARE YOU? WHY
ARE YOU HERE?
A youngboy inan oversized
jacket leaned on the table in the
middle of the room. He was the
high school graduation. I gradu-
ated from Detroit's most famous
high school, Cass Tech. I received
my high school diploma at COBO
Hall. Regardless of my location
today, I live and breath Detroit.
Unfortunately, this is not true for
many Detroiters.
Many locals have little to no
pride in the city. I don't blame
them. How, do you have pride in
your hometown when the mayor
is being indicted? How do you love
the city where your loved one was
senselessly murdered? It's no won-
der why many Detroiters quickly
make their way to the suburbs.
Upon graduation, I didn't want
to abandon my hometown, but it
seemed unreasonable to stay in a
city riddled with unemployment,
poverty and crime.
It's a shame because I have
unconditional love for Detroit. Of
all the places I've visited, I felt the
greatest pulse from Detroit. With
so many people living at or below
the poverty line, the residents
don't have very much. They can't
go out to dinner or visit the-theater
or do other high-class activities as
frequently as those who occupy
the suburbs. In fact, many Detroit
only one who said anything when I
entered the building.
I introduced myself and asked
him about himself. i
His name is Daniel and he's 13.
After he left the room I asked LSA
sophomore Riley Linebaugh if he's
actually 13.
As we began the interview, she
quietly explained that he is mal-
nourished.
After three days talking with the
people in Detroit, I finally started
to understand the shared learning
that occurs between the interns
and the communities.
In Ann Arbor, I sit at a desk
learning from professors. In
Detroit, Linebaugh learns from
Daniel.
She walked me around the small
brick building at Clark Park Recre-
ation Center. The snow had settled
on the adjacent football field and
neighborhoods have close com-
munities, and they find fun in less
expensive ways. I recall as a child,
the entire town smelled like bar-
beque on Labor Day. It was com-
mon to hear popular music filling
"How can you expect
outsiders to appreciate
home if you don't?"
the neighborhoods. There was a
time when young guys (and some-
times girls) would gather together
for a rap battle. Belle Isle in the
summertime was always a party.
These activities still go on, but
due to rising pessimism and hard
economic times, they are less fre-
quent than in previous years.
For a while, it seemed like the
city wasn't as great as it is. Like
many of my classmates in high
school, I planned to leave Detroit
once I entered the working world.
Many wanted to leave Michigan
all together, but I just wanted to
move to the suburbs. The glam-
our of places like Grosse Pointe,
Rochester and Birmingham drew
my attention. Everyone who has
the grey goal posts jut up out of the
snow, filling the empty space. A few
people ambled across the park's
worn ice rink as a mother drops
two girls off at the front door.
Linebaugh began to tell me
about her first few days in the city.
How, at first, she read all the safe-
ty handbooks and walked rigidly
down the street, averting eye con-
tact. But then she began smiling
and interacting with people. She
started to feel disconnected from
Ann Arbor and now can't even
fathom that people are walking
through the Diag as she is walking
through the streets of Detroit.
Her father, a professor, was con-
cerned that Linebaugh would be
hurt by her time not spent in the
library.
But it's been outside of the class-
room, through her involvement
with Clark Park Recreation Center
lived in Detroit has visited at least
one suburb (you really can't avoid
it) and knows how better look-
ing they are. I remember going
to a Subway in Dearborn with my
uncle. Upon crossing the street
separating Dearborn from Detroit,
I immediately noticed the build-
ings looked better kept in Dear-
born and the graffiti didn't leave
Detroit. Sometimes while travel-
ing, I have to ask what city I am
in, but I can always tell when I'm
entering Detroit from a suburb.
I have also been to other cities
across the United States. I've been
to Chicago, San
Diego, Sandusky
and Columbus,
your but the trip that
stands out in my
mind is Houston,
Texas. My first
trip to Houston was in 2002. I was
12, and it was a vacation to visit
my family there. I fell in love with
Houston during that trip. Despite
the unbearable Texas heat, I had
a great time with my aunts, uncles
and older cousins.
For a long time after that I
had as much love, if not more, for
Houston as I did for Detroit. This
was until we went again in 2007 -
don't get me wrong, it was great.
Yet, I was homesick. My family
was with me on the trip, but I was
longing to return home. Once our
plane landed, I had a great urge to
kiss the ground. My first thought
was: "Other cities may be nice, but
Detroit is where I belong." I knew
I loved Detroit.
where Linebaugh has felt her voice
develop. It holds more weight, she
says.
Despite having spent the past
seven years of her life in Ann Arbor,
Linebaugh hadn't spent much time
in Detroit. She'd only been to the
Detroit Institute of Art to view her
favorite mural, Detroit Industry,
painted by Diego Rivera.
Because of her experience in
the city, that mural has come alive.
Now she thinks constantly about
the auto industry and about the
economy of Detroit. She wonders
how it will affect the city, how it's
going to affect Clark Park, how it's
goingto affect Daniel.
"These are the people that I'm
not learning about in my class-
rooms (in Ann Arbor)," Linebaugh
said.
"We talk in a lot of my classes
about negative space - what's
Conversely, one of my cousins
from Houston was here during
this past winter break. My cousin
and I decided to give him a tour
of the city. The tour was a disap-
pointment in two ways. First, we
only gave him a tour of down-
town Detroit. Though the great
tourist attractions in Detroit are
located downtown, it's only a por-
tion of the entire city. Detroit is
more than just downtown. Sec-
ond, my cousin, our tour guide,
held very little pride in the city,
and it showed in the tour. Nothing
seemed great about the area. I had
actually never been to Greektown
before, and was in awe of how
beautiful it was. It was like a min-
iature, Greek-themed Las Vegas,
but my cousin made it as exciting
as a fire hydrant.
This tour solidified what I
already felt. Whether it's Detroit,
Ann Arbor, Seattle, Newark,
Toronto, London or Beijing, every-
one should have pride in his or her
hometown. How can you expect
outsiders to appreciate your home
if you don't? How can an area be
so relevant to your life and you
have no love for it? Whether you
move around a lot or have been in
the same place since birth, there
is one place that has contributed
most to your identity. That place
deserves your gratitude. I would
be a completely different person
if I hadn't grown up in Detroit.
Therefore, in loving myself, I also
love the Motor City.
-Alexis Smith is an LSA Junior
missing in the academic curricu-
lum or what's missing in the book
you're reading," she said. "I think
Detroit's voice is what's been miss-
ing in my personal curriculum.
Coming here is not going to fill
that negative space because it's an
enormous city, and I'm never going
to be able to know all of it.
"But I'm going to start being
able to fill in some of that negative
space."
For the 19 students who are now
engaged in this experience, not
one would trade places with a stu-
dent studying in Europe or South
America this semester. Ask them
to explain why and their words
wouldn't do it justice. But ask them
to describe an experience, and they
each can speak of moments that
have changed their lives and have
seen that change in a city that has
been written off by most.