Detroit

Changing Places

Social (What Society Was/Is Like)

• As the migration of blacks became especially intense, middle-class whites began moving to the newly built suburbs 

• (1940-1948) The 7,000 black residents who were displaced for the Detroit Plan moved to the neighbouring areas, in which the whites left

Demographic (Facts About the Population)

• Auto industry fuelled a growth spurt

• By 1950 the population peaked at ~1.85 million

• Southern blacks began moving to Detroit in search for work 

• (1950s) -363,000 white residents, +182,000 black residents (16% of the population)

• By the time of the 1967 riot, the percentage had grown to a third 

• Today, ~82% of the city’s population is black 

• (1950-1957) Population began shrinking because people were using the newly built roadways (Cobo) to leave the area

Economic (Jobs)

• Risks of the city’s reliance on a single industry was apparent 

• Decentralisation - strikes 

• (1930s) Unemployment was high

Political (Government/Conflict)

• Violent 1967 riots turned the stream of whites moving from where the blacks were into a torrent

• After the riots, Detroit failed to bounce back

• Bowles (backed by the Ku Klux Klan) was in office for 7 months in 1930 before people demanded his removal

• Bowles’ ascension was followed by a spike in crime

• Cobo (1950-1957) declined federal money for housing projects and facilitated the construction of freeways 

• Young (20 years as mayor, first election 1973) largely promised to ease the tension between the police and black residents 

• Many blacks saw Young as a type of hero but some whites felt that he wasn’t looking out for their interests too

• Kilpatrick (2001-2008) brought new attractions to the city’s riverfront and much-needed business investment downtown but he also increased the city’s debt obligations

• Kilpatrick resigned in 2008 and pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice charges. He was also found guilty of racketeering, fraud and extortion