Detroit 67: A Personal Reflection

Last weekend marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Detroit Riots.  I grew up in the Motor City and happened to be home for a friend’s wedding that weekend.  My family had spent the Sunday at a cottage on Lake Huron.  My plan was to have my dad drive me to the bus station downtown so I could catch the “red eye” back to Chicago where I was working that summer.  As we got in the car to drive back to Detroit we got our first radio reports about the unrest.  I convinced my dad to at least try to make the drive downtown but we were turned back by policeman before we had driven two miles. 

We did make the trip before dawn the following morning.  The streets were deserted as we drove down Jefferson Avenue.   We passed block after block of stores that had been looted.  Some buildings were on fire but there was not a fireman in sight.  I did make it to the bus station, where I was informed I would need to pay an extra $5.00 for insurance because of the situation.  The streets were deserted and smoke hung in the air as we weaved through downtown.  As I headed east on I-94, a convoy of National Guard vehicles drove past heading in the opposite direction.  I immediately sensed that the beautiful town of childhood would never be the same.

The neighborhood I grew up in changed over the next few years.  The shops and homes were never touched by civil disturbances, but fear drove people to the suburbs.  One by one the shops on Warren Ave. closed and soon the community was a shadow of its former self.  While most of our neighbors sold their homes and joined the exodus, my parents stayed.  They lived in the same house for another thirty-seven years until declining health forced them to move to a senior community.  They stayed because my dad had the attitude that it was his neighborhood and he would learn to get along with whoever chose to live there.  On summer evenings when I returned home, I remember him sitting on the porch and greeting all who would pass by.

This past Sunday, the Detroit newspapers published a special edition reflecting on the riots. A major movie has been released that focuses on one of the stories from the riots.  I read the news articles but think I will pass on the film.  If you want insights into the Detroit of the Sixties and the circumstances that led to the disturbances I would recommend the book Once in a Great City, by David Maraniss. 

Personally, I would rather reflect on the lessons I wish we had learned from the uprising.  Economic classes are an unfortunate reality.  Ethic and racial diversity are also a part of our American landscape.  In my mind the solution comes in being sensitive to the needs of others, and learning to listen.  We can try to blame the police, or our civic leaders, but the change needs to happen in our neighborhoods and in the workplace.  Each one of us must take ownership of the problem.