Quote:
Originally Posted by iheartthed
Yeah, that makes sense. Black Metro Detroiters of any age or class are likely to have closer ties to the city than white Metro Detroiters.
|
I would agree with both points discussed above. Though there are a few qualifiers and amendments I would like to add in. One depends on where you live I’ve tended to see more white, black or brown folks from inner ring burbs call themselves Detroiters as over the past 15-20. This isn’t universal but I would say in the north white folk who live south of 696 & west of Telegraph or and are under 35 generally are more likely to feel a Detroiter.
I would argue several factors supporting this. The struggle of deindustrialization hitting the inner ring burbs hard as well as the rise of urban culture as cool along with emigration from Detroit by black Detroiters has forged cultural connections with white suburbanites.
The final breakdown of DPS in the 00’s which saw many black middle class Detroiters and or those with family in the burbs sending their kids to suburban schools also helped break down to a degree the hard set barrier between city and suburb. In my circle of friends two were from the city we met them skateboarding around the Farmington night school where they were taking classes. We all liked to ride boards and they were good at it and cool so there wasn’t a big cultural gap. Though my first experience hanging out at home with my one friend was an eye opener even though my parents made sure I grew up was familiar with where they grew up & spending time downtown going to restaurants n such that they as a kid.
There certainly is and has been a class divide that people who have a lot in common find themselves not understanding each other due to. I remember when DTE cut off power to my friends place his mom was struggling to pay the bills and he got in trouble hustling, he wanted get the lights back on instead of running a cord from the abando next door. He had a little sister in middle school and wanted her to be able to study without a flashlight and not freeze in the winter.
As for the broader out of town introduction experience there’s a reaction you get when you say I’m from Detroit, I think everyone who has lived in the area knows what I’m talking about. I’m stubborn and proud of where I come from even if I grew up fortunate in Farmington Hills I consider myself a Detroiter. We didn’t have much money growing up we got lucky buying a trashed house in a great neighborhood and spent the next 20 years renovating it ourselves. My dad went back to school when he was in his 30’s to get his masters in engineering so most of our spare cash went towards that.
Fortunately it worked out he was able to transfer to a job he could stand at Ford after the company in Saginaw went bankrupt & after Allen Mually took over the model of management changed. The older and more experienced employees weren’t constantly under pressure to take the buyout and his experience in engineering and solving problems got him moved to a management position consumer safety looking at lawsuits from an engineering perspective and helping decide a course of action / giving depositions.
Though we nearly made the same mistakes that saw too many of my friends fall out of the middle class during the recession. We didn’t take out a mortgage to buy a bigger house in the 2000’s being the big one so when hard times hit he had a job that would last for 10 years plus dealing with product concerns and deciding if Ford was liable or not even if they went bankrupt. When my mom lost her benefits in 05 and Ford was looking like it was the sick man we got lucky and didn’t buy a new home in a more expensive market out of state.
However setting aside my personal take and experiences I do agree that there is a cultural divide still in place despite all my arguments that it’s been breaking down to a degree, it certainly is outside of the middle ring burbs. There’s also the feeling that even if you feel like a Detroiter that same reaction people give you out of town some people revel in and make that a part of their personalities. Even though I’ve lived in the city for two years now that I’ve moved back to Farmington Hills I feel the need to say I’m from Farmington otherwise I feel like I’m fronting.
To sum matters up if regional integration and cooperation continues to expand especially better mass transportation that would go a long way to truly making the region feel in it together. Better opportunities and ease of movement would go a ways to helping lower real and perceived barriers, the city’s revival has begun the process in creating pride in from being from here again. This tie into the greater national narrative while the media will do what they do the lack of familiarity with the city by many suburbanites leads to friends and family who visit from out of state getting an unbalanced experience if they visit the city.
I’ve had personal friends from Germany visit and me and my friends showed them where we liked to hang out and some of the cool and beautiful places in the city. While another friend who comes from a conservative Jewish family took their relatives into the city and when they were shocked by the blight they didn’t know that just down the street is a beautiful residential neighborhood or a mile away is a cool commercial strip. While this isn’t universally true especially on this forum some of the most anti-Michigan and Detroit people are Michigan expats who left for their own reasons many quite legitimate but the region is stuck in time and the sensational media coverage of Detroit blight reinforces that image.
Prev
Linear Mode
