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March 19, 2015 - Image 8

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2B — Thursday, March 19, 2015
the b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

When I was growing up in the

suburbs of Detroit, I and other
young kids in schools learned a
very clear, simple narrative about
the city. Henry Ford and the Model
T created a thriving metropolis
with architecture that garnered
it the moniker “The Paris of the
West,” whose factory workers
earned a good wage and supplied
the U.S. with the tanks, jeeps and
planes it needed to win World War
II. However, growing racial ten-
sions led to “The Riots” of 1967
and an outpouring of white people
from the city into the growing
suburbs. After that, we learned,
Detroit descended into economic
chaos and physical ruin.

As much as people might try

to explain Detroit, the diversity
of narratives within the sprawl-
ing city make it truly impossible
to tell one unified story about its
rise, fall or potential recovery.
The 143 square miles that make up
the city contain some of the most
dynamic and complex space in the
country, and to try to fit the his-
tory of Michigan’s most populous
city under any kind of universal
umbrella narrative will inevitably
distort the truth. Henry Ford was
scarily anti-Semitic, racist vio-
lence disrupted the war effort and
made factories dangerous places
for Black residents to work and the
“white flight” narrative typically
forgets the fact that there were
and are many strong, solidly mid-
dle-class neighborhoods within
Detroit’s borders.

Lately, the narrative we’ve all

been hearing about Detroit has
been a comeback story. Billionaire
Dan Gilbert and other investors
are buying up and renovating doz-
ens of properties downtown, the
Detroit Red Wings are getting a
new arena and a weekend night out
in the city will put you in the com-
pany of hundreds of young people
having fun at the wealth of new
nightlife options.

However, many problems still

linger in The Motor City, espe-
cially for those who live outside
the revitalized Downtown and
Midtown areas. It was less than
two years ago that Detroit filed for
bankruptcy, and only one year ago
that the city shut off water for resi-
dents who couldn’t pay their bills.

Additionally — and perhaps

most troublingly for the long-term
future — groups and programs
that work to revitalize Detroit
have a significantly white make-
up, according to researcher Alex
Hill, despite the city overall being
82.7-percent Black or African-
American at the time of the 2010
census. “In Detroit problems are
seen as being caused by black
people, but the solutions are being
powered by white people, neither
of which are true,” Hill stated in
his report.

The unequal racial demograph-

ics that make up Detroit’s elite
decision makers is what origi-
nally inspired Detroit community
developer Lauren Hood to engage
herself more in social justice in
Detroit.

“People that look like me weren’t

involved in all of the revitalization
efforts,” Hood said. “At the com-
munity level, yes, there were tons
of long-term residents and tons of
people of color at those meetings,
but when you get to the decision-
making meetings with power
players, people that have money,
developers, there were never any,
or very few, native Detroiters and
black people in that picture.”

Hood’s organization, Deep Dive

Detroit,
spearheads
discussion

sessions and other events where
native Detroiters of all different
backgrounds can talk about race,
inequality and other social justice-
related topics. These events ampli-

fy the voices of longtime Detroit
residents and people who are
involved in the community, those
whose stories are often passed
over and go unheard in favor of
young recent arrivals to the city.

Aaron Foley, a Detroit-based

writer and journalist, noticed that
the influx of young people and the
changing population of the city
can create some tricky situations.
His upcoming book, “How to Live
in Detroit Without Being a Jack-
ass,” is meant to show newcomers
how to avoid hurting or offending
longtime residents.

“Detroit is definitely open for

new residents, new businesses, hot
new locations and whatnot,” Foley
said. “But because there’s so much
history — you got race and class
and social and economic status — a
lot of people trip over these things,
and it can be awkward for people.”

Hood said the audience for

Deep Dive Detroit’s events is often
these new arrivals: young people
curious about social justice.

“(The people who come) are

kind of conscious and aware.
They’re not really sure how they
want to get involved in helping
move the needle towards equity,
but they know that they should,”
Hood said. “I know a lot of people
would come into the room and be
like, ‘Ha, look at all these young
hipsters,’ but at least these hipsters
are in a room where they’re going
to learn something that could
actually help move the needle a
little bit, ’cause there are others
who don’t even think they need to
hear these stories, or don’t want to
be involved and don’t care, ’cause
they don’t have to be to be success-
ful here.”

The main area where these

two disparate groups — longtime
Detroiters, often people of color;
and typically white young people
who have just moved to the city —
don’t see eye to eye, according to
Hood, is in access to opportunity.
Longtime minority residents can
get passed over for jobs and grants
in favor of white outsiders.

“If you’re a person who just got

here and suddenly you find access
to all this grant funding and all
these other people that are doing
things and getting notoriety for it
and getting funding for it, if you
just got here and you see that,
you’re like, ‘Well, why haven’t
these people that’ve been here
been doing this all this time?’ ”
Hood said.

“If I had just got here and I went

to a certain kind of school and
spoke a certain way and looked a
certain way, I could have access to
a lot of funding for projects,” she
continued. “But if I’ve been here
in the trenches doing the same
kind of work for years and years
and years, I’m not as likely to have
access to or be awarded funding.”

When decision-making groups

lack diversity, they can’t fully
understand their area; the money
they spend can end up dispropor-
tionately benefiting small groups
of privileged people. The M1 Rail
Line, a streetcar system funded by
private investors that’s currently
under construction on Woodward
Avenue, will only serve a small
percentage of Detroit’s residents.
While a city and its businesses’
investments should certainly tar-
get visitors in addition to residents,
some Detroiters are skeptical
that the M1 Rail is the best use of
money for their city.

“I definitely wish that more of

that money could have been used
towards the bus system,” Foley
said. “It’s not that I’m against the
M1 Rail … (but) you have that ques-
tion mark of how far it’s going to
go … Why couldn’t we have spread
that money out?”

“Maybe it’s the backbone of a

larger system that will grow out of
it hopefully, but I don’t know, the
current plans don’t excite me that
much,” Hood said.

And while city officials point

to progress since the bankruptcy
in areas such as police response
times, these changes may only be
affecting areas like Midtown and
Downtown. Many longtime Black
middle-class residents — a major
tax base for city — are leaving for
the suburbs due to a lack of safety
in their neighborhoods (including
Hood’s parents).

“Response times are better if

you’re in Midtown and Corktown.
If you are on the East Side, they
still won’t come to your house,”
Hood said. “When my parents
got held up, Channel 4 News
was there before the police were
there.”

There’s also a sense that

Detroiters
don’t
necessarily

need all the help that outsiders
are offering.

“People treat Detroit now like

a place you go for Peace Corps,”
Hood said. “Like you’re just
going to go there, create some
project that will help a few peo-
ple, and then you leave and go to
the next thing.”

So what does need improve-

ment?
One
answer
that
is

regularly mentioned is commu-
nity benefits agreements. These
agreements
would
require

developers and businesses using
public money to agree with the
community on certain condi-
tions, such as hiring a major-
ity of local workers. While these
agreements have faced opposi-
tion in the Michigan Legisla-
ture, they have support in the
community.

“As long as that gets people

working, so we can all get back
on our feet here, that’s definitely
a benefit,” Foley said.

George Galster, professor of

urban affairs at Wayne State
University,
proposes
another

solution. While he thinks a
type of community benefits
agreement is appropriate for
developers who use substan-
tial public money, he cautioned
against “killing the goose that

VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily

Work on the M1 Rail Streetcar Line began in July 2014.

DETROIT
From Page 1B

“People treat

Detroit now like
a place you go for

Peace Corps.”

lays the golden eggs” by attach-
ing too many strings to develop-
ments.

“It’s very tricky, because the

climate in Detroit is still very ten-
uous,” Galster said. “There are
not a lot of deals that can be done
for developers that are all that
attractive, so I think the city has
to be very careful in how much it
tries to extract from developers.”

Hood disagrees that business-

es wouldn’t come if restrictions
were too tight.

“That’s bullshit,” she said.

“We’re hot right now. Have you
read all the articles? We don’t
need the people that wouldn’t
come here. Keep them. I think
enough people would still come
here with one.”

Galster says the key thing

Michigan needs to do is institute
an urban growth boundary,
which
would
contain
new

construction within high-density
areas to “stop sprawl in its tracks”
and force developers to use
vacant land or older structures
in Detroit. This boundary would
create a more compact city, one
with a reduced carbon footprint
that can be more easily served by

VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily

Drivers on Woodward Avenue have to contend with construction.

“We don’t want

to turn into
Brooklyn, or

Oakland or D. C.”

public transportation.

One thing for sure: Detroiters

think the necessity for action has
become much greater than it was
even just a few years ago.

“In 2012, in talking to people,

there wasn’t the sense of urgency
there is now,” Hood said. “People
are like, ‘Oh my God we have to do
something now,’ whereas maybe
a couple of years ago people were
like, ‘You know, we’re going to
have some issues in the future
— prices are going to go up, new
people are going to be coming in,
there’s going to be some displace-
ment,’ but now there’s this sense of
urgency about it.”

Detroiters also want to be sure

that what they love about their
city stays the same.

“We have a lot of power in this

moment,” Hood said. “We just
have to harness it and move it in a
different direction. We don’t want
to turn into Brooklyn, or Oakland
or D.C.”

And despite the remaining

problems and uncertainty about
the city’s prospects, Detroiters
are proud of their city and mostly
upbeat about potential solutions.
Galster, a fifth-generation Detroi-

ter, said he has “the best job in the
United States,” and still lives in the
city.

“I think it’s important to vote

with your feet, if you will, to try to
be part of the solution that you’re
talking about in your classes and
in your studies,” he said. “I feel
very, very fortunate at this oppor-
tunity to do what I like doing best
in the place that I care about the
most.”

In his essay “We love Detroit,

Even
If
You
Don’t,”
Foley

described his feelings for the
city as “a twisted love that runs
the gamut of emotions: Joy, dis-
appointment, hurt, anger, fear,
elation, delight, apprehension,
courage, resentment, cynicism,
stubbornness,
optimism
and

confusion.” And though he has
thought about moving in the
past, Foley said that desire has
lessened lately, and he’s opti-
mistic for the future.

“Now you can sort of see the

light at the end of the tunnel,
and I want to be there to see
the light,” he said. “I can see
the future. I can see things are
finally coming along, and I want
to be a part of it.”

St. Paddy’s Day Brunch?

in this series, three daily arts writers in

varying states of mind visit the same

place and write about their experiences.

baked.buzzed.bored.

this week’s destination:

Omg the line was so long. Some chicks asked to hand us free bagels? I really want

a bagel, but I want this breakfast more. Wow I almost just turned right into

the guy in front of us. The bartender shouts “let the drinking began”

LMFAO my fellow daily arts writer beat you too it. Is this a buf-

fet? Or do we have a server? I don’t wanna sit here not

eating and look like a moron, but I don’t wanna be

presumptuous and go searching for a buffet.

I was not prepared for this. Idek why I

like St. Paddy’s (Patty’s???) day.
I NEED TO EAT. Mel is shout-

ing something about h2o, idk what.

BREAKFAST BURRITO. And we got free

shirts (!!!!) all of us just look like we are on our

phones. We look like assholes.. Holy balls this burrito

is amazing. It’s like every good McDonald’s breakfast item

combined in a tortilla ... mmmmm. I got a beer and Jell-O shot

too. Why isn’t this beer green? Wtf we asked for greenified beer. I hate

both of those things. Who am I? This burrito is balls to the wall and if I’m

still high in French class it’s not going to be a pretty sight.

—DAILY ARTS WRITER

Honestly, we are a joke. I could use some food though, this morn-

ing has been quite #strenuous. Jell-O shots are $3 honestly what a
time to be alive. I would’ve spelled jello wrong if it weren’t for auto-
correct. Some #employee just said “let the drinking begin!!!!!!?!”
way too overzealously but like homie it already did. Oh. Fucking.
Sick. My snap story is already out of control and the clock has just
rolled to 7 a.m. wake up in the morning. Is there. Buffet even? My
patience wears thin when it comes to #breakfast. HONESTLY
I JUST ORDERED A GREEN GUINNESS BUT HE SAID IT
WAS TOO DARK FOR GREEN SO I ASKED FOR THE EXTRA
GREENEST ONE AND ITS FULL CIRCLE KOLSXH LIKE YOU
KNOW WHAT ELSE HAS COME FULL CIRCLE, SIR, MY LIFE
THATS WHAT !¡ #greenery #shrubbery # landscape. TO BE
QUITE HONEST breakfast is just a sadder version of lunch when
it doesn’t include mimosas and alas they are not featured on this
extensive menu that seems to only include beer tho and this burrito
I have yet to taste. Am I T9 wording this shit? Asked my #buzzed
friend. Why yes buzz I am ! This JellO shot is rather dense — is that
a good food review Giancarlo? Oh here I go food beat my time to
shine tbh this incredible mix of hashbrown to egg to cheese ratio
makes me feel feelings of emotional attachment. There are few joys
in life like my Jell-O shot thank you based god and thank you auto-
correct. Dreams 10/10 crushed I thought this was a buffet but all
I got was this burrito. Can saint Patrick’s day be regarded on the
same caliber at xmas or like T-giving because this might be the best
day ever and I’ve experienced 1.25 hours of it.

—DAILY ARTS WRITER

The drive over here was great wow. It smelled like the
MGMT concert in my coworker’s car. (I’ll take “sen-

tences I never thought I’d write” for 500, Alex.) But

we aired it out, so that’s good.

The sad part of all this is I look like I’m high

and drunk right now, but not a drop of illegal
goodness has entered my body — sorry sir,
that’s just my face in the morning!!! You’re
gonna have to deal with it!!! And I’m SO frick-
ing hungry. And I have a discussion section in
a few hours LOL so dead. These two beauties
next to me are really living the life right now.
Wow omg here comes the Irish music wow life
of a music writer I can’t ignore the abomination

happening on the loud speakers. What a town to

be alive in.
I just ordered water at a bar on St. Patrick’s Day. I

think I deserve a Nobel Peace Prize or something. Just

kidding, I’ll never be as amazing as Malala. My fellow writ-

ers just
ordered green beer IT’S FINE. We can’t stop laughing oh my god.

WHERE IS THE FOOOD WHERE THEY AT THO?? Oh my god the writer to the right of
me just started singing Rebecca Black. I’m starting to think about my childhood wow nos-
talgia. Is my other comrade even high anymore? We’ve been waiting for 50 years.

The breakfast burritos have arrived and my dignity is at a solid 72 percent. I love the

Daily. I love myself. Shrek is love, Shrek is life. (Shrek is green so that works, relax everyone.)

It’s too early for this shit.

—MELINA GLUSAC

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