Race And Inequality In Post-War Detroit

The only part of this statement that actually describes the role of Downtown is that it is to “serve as a support and stimulus to business and industry.” There is not a clear direction for the role of Downtown in the “Big

With the growth of industry in the United States, the population of cities began to grow substantially (Tovanche Lecture). They started providing job opportunities in factories, offices, and other places as well. The cities became the main center of wealth and also poverty. A huge class of the impoverished lived in slums. Some even lived underground in the sewers, and a huge percentage of the poor came from newly arrived immigrants who were coming to America in large numbers from poor

After the post-Civil War Reconstruction period ended in 1876, white supremacy was largely restored across the South.Around 1916, when the Great Migration began, a factory wage in the urban North was typically three times more than what blacks could expect to make working the land in the rural South it was pretty hard for them to live.By the end of 1919, some 1 million blacks had left the South, usually traveling by train, boat or bus; a smaller number had automobiles or even horse-drawn carts they couldn’t take it any more so they decided to leave.many blacks headed north, where they took advantage of the need for industrial workers that first arose during the First World War. Migrants were forced to deal with poor working conditions and competition

Building the vitality of the downtown core through the creation of new residential, business, retail, cultural and entertainment opportunities.

The nature of racial issues is extremely complex and something that is not universal under any circumstances. There are so many different factors that play into racial issues, starting with social class, economic status, historical relations, and even the way those so called tensions are portrayed within the media. In John Hartigan's book, “Racial Situations; Class predicament of Whiteness in Detroit” he talks about his experiences having lived within different communities in Detroit and he discusses the results of having studied three different environments with different social classes. The three places he discusses are Briggs, Corktown, and Warrendale.

Today, Detroit, New York City and Chicago have many similarities They're highly populated cities with high crime rates, many homeless people, noisy streets and terrible traffic. In contrast, they attract many tourists with their tall skyscrapers, and their famous attractions. As well as similarities, there's also, many differences. Today, Chicago and New York City are known for having many job opportunities and luring people in with promising careers. Whereas in Detroit, it's known to be quite hard to find employment. These cities have gone on a long journey to get to where they're at today. I'll be discussing Detroit's history from around 1880 to 1910 and comparing it to the way Chicago and New York City was in the book, Sister Carrie written by Theodore Dreiser.

Free, southern blacks and other minority groups made their way up north in order to fill the employment gaps left by the start of World War 1. Pamphlets and fliers were sent to the southern states promising African Americans, many of whom still worked on the plantations of their previous owners, well-paying jobs. What many did not realize, is that, despite the opportunity and hope being offered, Cleveland was a hotbed of racism and discrimination at this point, and would only worsen with the arrival of uneducated and unskilled minorities. (Stapleton, 17 July 1997, para. 3-5)

Skilled jobs were practically impossible for most African-Americans to attain, leaving them low-paying and often dangerous jobs. From explicit examples to the subtler, the economic boom most of the country experienced after WWII did not apply for the majority of African-Americans looking for a job in Detroit. In one of the more explicit examples of clear racial segregation in terms of jobs was in the retail sector. African-Americans had a rough time attempting to get any sort of job within retail because of the “bad perception” store owners believed they gave off.

In American society, race and racial issues are viewed in a black and white manner. The media portrays matters of race in the simplest terms without taking intersectionality into account. Social class, economic factors, and historical factors impact how racial issues are regarded and handled in specific geographic locations. John Hartigan demonstrates this in his book, Racial Situations: Class Predicaments of Whiteness of Detroit, which describes the dynamics of three local communities: Briggs, Cork Town, and Warrendale. Hartigan examines how white identity varies in these three neighborhoods due to other social factors. Comparing how these local communities respond to race versus the media’s response shows how categorizing people into monolithic groups based only on race is a tactic that ignores the real issues and delays finding solutions.

Cate Thurston’s paper, “Bringing Back Broadway,” was a study of urban redevelopment in Los Angeles’ Broadway Corridor. Cate shared her research and analysis on why redevelopment was an important factor for various people, such as Ira Yellin, the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles, and Councilmember Jose Huizar. The reason why redevelopment was important for many people was because the city was changing and there was a need to drive tourists into the city. As more tourists visit Los Angeles, spending increases, thus, generating more prosperity and wealth. This paper also discussed why this particular neighborhood changed and why space changes over time in Los Angeles. Cate shared how the Broadway Corridor in the 19th and 20th

In the vicinity between 1880 and 1900, urban communities in the United States developed at an exponential rate. Owing a large portion of their populace development to the extension of industry, U.S. urban communities developed by millions of individuals in the two decades prior to 1900. A large number of the individuals who helped represent the populace development of urban communities were migrants swarming in from around the globe. A constant flow of people from provincial America likewise moved to the urban areas amid this period. Within this time, just about 40 percent of the townships in the United States lost populace in light of relocation.

A racially segregated Chicago had experienced few race riots prior to 1919. However, between April 1919 and October 1919, race riots spanned the nation; this became known as the Red Summer. On July 27, 1919, Chicagoans started to express their emotions on racial issues, which turned into violence, lasting several days and resulting in the deaths, injuries, and displacement of hundreds of people. During this time, Chicagoans opinions regarding racism led to extreme chaos, leaving African Americans and whites fighting with each other for wealth and opportunities. The relatively-invisible line between blacks and whites in Chicago became bolder, deepening the rift between the races. As a result of the gruesome events that occurred in the summer of 1919, segregation in Chicago deepened. Chicago city officials created the Chicago Commission of Race Relations, comprised of six whites and six blacks, with the goal of solving large racial issues in Chicago, such as housing for blacks and job competition. Today, Chicago is more desegregated, but it was an arduous journey and is still a work in progress. It is still a predominant issue, and there are many recurring examples of racial violence in Chicago currently. This makes racial inequality an even more important issue in Chicago communities, and the legacy of this racial violence continues to haunt this persistently segregated city.

This type of union organizing involved the collectivist focus on unity that influenced this group of activists to see the greater good of their cause as a minority. For instance, Hunt and Rayside (2000) defines the importance of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) in the militant action that gave African-Americans a strong union foundation in the 1920s. This historical example of African-American solidarity not only defines the importance of militant group organizational activity, but it also defines the greater autonomy of African-Americans to form their own unions. Certainly, African-Americans had an extremely difficult time organizing during the early 20th century in terms of labor negotiations, yet the success of the BSCP provides a powerful example of the autonomy and solidarity of African-American workers that unified to overcome the racial barriers that were being put against them by primarily white hegemonic labor unions. This strategy helps to define the unity and disciplined action of minority union members that combated racism during this historical

Detroit, once the New York City of its time, nick named the “Motor City” as it contained one of the leading car manufacturing centers of the automobile industry. As a metropolis for the first half of the twentieth century, Post World War II, Detroit became an economic fortress and focal point in American History. Detroit’s economic stronghold placed the city in a position that was once beneficial. From the surging employment opportunities perpetuated by the booming automotive market to the development, and implementation of substandard housing and the casual labor market, Detroit became the land of opportunity that loomed with an air of new beginnings. Today, however, Detroit continues to reap the aftermath of contradictory political

As our nation accepts a new president and the realities of politics in a post-Obama world, it is a perfect time to focus the conversation on economic progress and racism. In the past ten years, issues surrounding race and economics have contributed to America’s social classes being in direct competition with each other, while simultaneously causing America to address historical and contemporary racial inequalities that have been hidden in the past. (citation). The current political platform provides us with an opportunity to highlight racism and the economic injustices that have been place on African Americans and many other minorities. Racism is an ideology that is based on the principle that human beings can be subdivided and ranked into