John Simpson originally published this piece in the editorial section of the Michigan Chronicle. He shares his sentiments and struggles with his hometown Detroit on GoTryke.com.
For decades, the city of Detroit was synonymous with African American Pride. It was a city, unlike many other cities, where you could see other black folks. Folks just like you and me, in positions of power. In positions traditionally reserved for whites. Detroit had black mayors, black police chiefs and black city council persons. We had Black auto execs, business and community leaders, Black Judges and black politicians. It was a city where a strong auto industry allowed blacks to enjoy the blessings of home ownership and a middle class lifestyle. A lifestyle that we as black Detroiters grew accustomed and felt entitled to. Detroit also built a legacy in the music and entertainment world. As the Motor City and Motown, Detroit had unparalleled international swagger. I grew up in Detroit. Off 7 Mile and Livernois. I spent many a night at Palmer Park eating Boogaloo sandwiches and drinking Faygo red pop. It meant something to say “I’m from Detroit.” Or as the young people put it, “I’m from the D.”
People, what happened to our city? What happened to that swagger? How did we become a city known more for its crime rate and poverty than for its rich historical contributions? “How did we earn the title of a dying city”? How did we develop such a tarnished image? How did we become a city that if you do well in school or speak the kings English, you are labeled a sell out and your blackness is called into question? Where keeping it real (ignorant) has eclipsed the concepts of being educated, well mannered and professional. How did we become a city riddled with political scandal that continues to lose young talented individuals by the thousands. Where we litter our own neighborhoods? How does an old shoe wind upon the freeway anyway? What happened to us Detroit?
I recently came across a quote in the local newspaper from Ken Cockrel, the newly sworn Mayor of the City of Detroit. He explained the exodus of Detroiters to the suburbs. “If you’re going to pay a 30% surcharge for automobile insurance, if you’re going to be living down the street from some school where you’re not comfortable sending your child because your child might find himself or herself exposed to a 26-round semiautomatic MAC-10 brought by some progeny of an irresponsible parent. Those are real considerations. “I’m not going to condemn anybody who says, ‘I can’t deal with it.”
He’s talking about me. Eight years ago when I married and had children, I packed up my family and left the city of Detroit. I left Detroit kicking and screaming. My wife wanted to move. I did not. At one point, during one of our many fights about whether or not to leave Detroit, my wife asked, “So if we stay in Detroit, ‘do we keep the pistol on the night stand or under the pillow?”
Enough said. I lost and out of Detroit we moved. Actually, since then we have moved twice. Each time a little further from Detroit. But did I really lose the argument? It’s nice out here. Bigger house for the wife and kids. Polite neighbors, and great “public schools.” Out here we have all the amenities one could hope for. Restaurants, entertainment, shopping, All that.
Wow. Folks out here have it good. Did I say that already? Since being out here, I’ve also gained a troubling new perspective on home. The sense that for years I had the wool pulled over my eyes. I thought that crack heads and bulletproof glass was a way of life. That car jacking and home invasion was commonplace. Grocery stores offered sub par produce and “light brown meat.” Iron security doors and bars on every window were standard. In many instances we were prisoners in our own homes. Liquor stores on every corner and abandoned buildings were just part of the landscape.
Sadly, I had not only become accustomed to, but had grown to accept living in fear and chaos, in conditions often less civilized than the city zoo. That was life. Or so I thought. Ultimately, I came to realize– as did many of my now-suburban neighbors– we had a choice. We didn’t have to live like that. We were refugees of Detroit, no longer willing to sacrifice quality of life for loyalty to the town we had loved so much.
My dilemma is this… I desperately I want to come home to Detroit. A city so rich in culture and heritage, now buried beneath the rubble of failed leadership. The city that has turned out so many brilliant products and people. The city that gave us the automobile and the Motown sound, Joe Louis and Faygo pop, Aretha Franklin and Coleman Young, Berry Gordy and Damon Keith. All made in Detroit. Detroit helped shape everything about me. But as a business man with a family, I cannot overlook the fact that it costs considerably more to live in Detroit. I did the math. “Out here” I have more house, lower taxes, and more amenities. Better schools, cleaner safer streets and peace of mind. Did I mention “fresh red meat.”? Out here I get much more for much less.
I understand that a large urban city such as Detroit is going to have more challenges than wealthier suburbs. However, I would move home in a heartbeat if I believed that Detroit was moving in the right direction, was meeting those challenges head-on, and was on a path toward better schools, safer streets and “a better quality of life.” It is easy for some to argue that in order for me to realize my dream of returning to a better Detroit, I need to take personal actions to help make it a better Detroit. I know. I know. Stop being part of the problem and become part of the solution. Stop talking about it and be about it.We need to start being more sophisticated about how we pick our leaders and the criteria we use to choose. We need to demand accountability from our leadership. We need to become more active in our community. We need to commit to quality education for our children. We need to take responsibility for not only ourselves but for our neighbors. Absolutely, we – or rather I say I? – need to be better.
I’ll work on that. But in the meantime, I need to reconcile my own confusion and uncertainty about what is real for me at this point in my life. Is home still home when the people and places you cherish have all but vanished? As a true Detroiter, am I incapable of building a home elsewhere? Have I temporarily relocated to this Suburban utopia waiting for my real home in the city to be rebuilt? Is the prospect of a new Detroit achievable in the foreseeable future? Against all my other life demands, do I have the time, energy, and patience to help overhaul the mess that has been made in Detroit?
Such questions sadden me because here’s the real truth: while it’s nice out here in suburbia, I never truly feel at home, and doubt I ever will. I’ll never feel as though I really belong. It’s a bit like driving someone else’s brand new car: it’s handles great but it ain’t yours. For now, at least, even in borrowed wheels, I’ve found a lane that’s moving. Home, as I know it, is fading in my rear view. There’s a point on the road of every journey when making a U-turn seems out of the question. I am nearing that point. None the less, I want to come home. Real talk.
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It’s funny becuase I grew up in Ann Arbor, and as a young adult, always hated the suburbs. Although Ann Arbor has been constistantly voted one of the top cities in the country to live in, somehow Detroit always had more of an appeal to me, something that was different and unique. 17 years ago,at the tender age of 23, i moved to the city, before lofts and condos were trendy and sought after. Before they built million dollar condos above a historic hotel. And against the will of my conservative, filipino-immigrant parents. I moved to the city with no furntiure no silverware, nothing. I established a business in the city and was able to survive. This is the city where i went when i snuck out of my parents house at age 16 and drove 50 miles down I-94 to come and party at Todds on 7 mile and Van Dyke. It was awesome. I remember when having a 313 area code for a home # was politically correct.
So when i became older (and had more bills)I realized that I missed the hi-end grocery stores and convenient shopping, i got tired of getting my car stolen every 2 years and i when i literally had to dodge a bullet (a real bullet from a gun) when I was at a party in the city, that was it for me. 10 years ago, I too made my hiatus north of 8 mile.
Like JD, i miss the city. Being a real estate broker and constantly looking at (and selling) the fantastic homes that would be 10 times the price if it were just a couple miles north, it makes me sad. Then i look at the real estate taxes and almost gag. But nonetheless, I want to come back, and if i didn’t feel like i had to clutch my purse,pay triple for car insurance,and worry about my soon-to-be stepkids education, I would hi-tail my butt back south of 8 mile. My fiance (who grew up in the D and whose parents still live in the city) says that we can move back when the kids are grown, or buy in the city and put a big fence around our house. WHAT? WOW. WHEN? That is the question.
JD,
As another brother who grew up on the Northwest side of Detroit, I can totally relate. I truly miss Detroit and wish I could justify moving back. I lived in the “D” for 23 years. The items you mention above (high insurance, crime, poor schools, etc.) are just a few of the reasons I refuse to move back to Detroit.
I remember when my father built his first house just North of UofD High School. I loved that home and the neighborhood. We played baseball in the park and hung out at night listening to the “Electrifying Mojo” without worrying about getting hit by a stray bullet. I’ll never forget the day my father decided it was time to leave. We came home and discovered for the second time someone tried to break in our house. Before we could move someone actually did break into our house while my parents and younger brothers were home (I was away at college). Thank God they weren’t harmed.
You ask what happened to our city? I believe it all starts at home. Babies having babies, a lack of values, morals and pride in your neighborhood are just a few examples of what’s wrong with our city. One of the things that will never cease to amaze me is how you can walk down a street in Detroit and see garbage all over the place. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve witnessed someone throw garbage out of their car while driving in the city.
I’ve lived in the Southfield area for the last 22 years. I live in a safe neighborhood and there’s a Target store, Dry Cleaner, Car wash, Starbucks, Market Fresh, Borders Bookstore and a TJ Maxx all within walking distance. It may not be perfect but it’s home and I do feel like I belong.
Good article John,
I had those same feelings when I moved out of the city just five years ago. I grew up on Oakman Blvd near Davison. A few years after returning home from college, I ended up buying a house right down the street from my parents on Oakman near Fullerton. A few years later I married and started having kids. I loved my house and I loved Oakman and my neighbors. It was lined with affordable nice size brick homes, but the rest of the surrounding neighborhood was straight up ghetto. I was used to it because I grew up there and played with the kids in the surrounding ‘hood. Sure my home got broken into while I was still single, but I blamed my self for not locking one of my steel security doors. It was totally different for my wife though. She grew up on a farm in Canada and everywhere in Detroit was ghetto to her. She was completely uncomfortable living there. She pressured me to move us after she witnessed an armed robbery at the gas station/convenience store 5 blocks away on Livernois. I didn’t want to go, but she was pregnant with our second child and emotions were running high. I missed the city… for a while. The wool had also been pulled over my eyes…not my wife’s. She saw bad things that I saw as normal. She could not believe how blind I was and that I accepted mediorce city services. I saw my neighbor’s front walk torn up by the city to fix a gas problem. They did not repair his walk for nearly 2 years. I wanted to stay in the city and keep it real. I was real stupid. The first thing I noticed after moving to the suburb where we reside is the peace and quiet. We can sit out on the deck at night and not hear the frequent police or fire sirens. We don’t hear the occasional gun shot sound that made my wife jump while I sat oblivious to it. While our street was being repaired, a city truck knocked over our mailbox. I called city hall and it was repaired in two days. My guard was always up while I was in Detroit and I still go into ‘combat’ mode when I hit the city limit. People may not like that sentiment, but after getting my car stolen in the city while at of all things a baby shower, I’m starting to miss the ‘D’ less and less, but some reason I still love Detroit. I’ll never be a hater. I guess because I have so many fond memories growing up there, but out here my wife is happy and my kids are in a much safer environment. I want the city to bounce back for the sake of the entire southeast Michigan region, but at this point I can only offer moral support and prayers.
Great article. Hopefully the city gets restored to the once proud place that all of you speak of. It seems there are plenty of people that want that to be case. Time for some good leadership!
WOW!!! As I sit at my desk looking out at the sparkling downtown skyline, I also LOVE our city. Thank you, John David, for so poignantly and passionately putting into words what so many people think and feel with heavy hearts. I am ever hopeful that beautiful symbols of progress — the RiverWalk, Campus Martius, the Book Cadillac, new housing — are a whisper of glory days to come. Then perhaps you can write an article entitled, I’m Home Again!
This is so painful…and true. I mean all these people echoing what JD is saying. And I feel it too. This city, all the great things about it, at least what we remember about it, make it ever so hard to separate the great things we know from the reality we don’t want to deal with. Because dealing with it would force us to acknowledge the things we just *can’t* deal with while living here. Getting robbed should not be a way of life. Gunshots should not be “soundtrack of the city”.
But here’s the thing. I’ve seen good people practically chased out the city, some who struggle the hardest to “make something happen” get no slack, no help whatsoever. The city’s most valuable resource, it’s people, are being ignored. None of the people on here who left, from JD on down, wanted to leave, they HAD to leave. Tragic. There’s gold here, but even gold can crumble to dust. The city BETTER fight to keep others like us from leaving otherwise…
A very well written article, that sums up the feelings of all who grew up in our great city. In order for things to be different we have got to do different, and that begins with leadership. We continue to recycle leaders that add to the stagnation. How long do you let the same people sit on the City Council with no demonstrable results? Why do we elect Motown singers and wives of ineffective congressmen and expect responsible leadership?
The corruption in the school system is horrific; we finally stumble upon a superintendent that begins to look into that corruption, and she is fired. The schools continue to fail; yet we support politicians who oppose vouchers that would allow us to use our tax money to better educate our children instead of piling it onto a rubbish heap of negligence. They argue that vouchers would be bad for the cities schools, meanwhile the children are languishing in bad city schools. How long do the children have to remain ill served by those bad city schools; as they try to repair a corrupt system with more corruption.
Sad to say it JD, but Detroit at this point in history, has the leadership it deserves.
Hassan
Digital Publius