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THE STRAIGHT DETROIT AMERICA’S PREMIER LEGACY CITY FIRST EDITION Edited by Jeffrey T. Horner Wayne State University Bassim Hamadeh, CEO and Publisher Kassie Graves, Director of Acquisitions and Sales Jamie Giganti, Senior Managing Editor Miguel Macias, Senior Graphic Designer Jennifer Codner, Senior Field Acquisitions Editor Michelle Piehl, Project Editor Alexa Lucido, Licensing Coordinator Berenice Quirino, Associate Production Editor Copyright © 2018 by Cognella, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information retrieval system without the written permission of Cognella, Inc. For inquiries regarding permissions, translations, foreign rights, audio rights, and any other forms of reproduction, please contact the Cognella Licensing Department at [email protected]. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Cover image copyright© 2016 iStockphoto LP/mysticenergy. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-5165-1270-6 (pbk) / 978-1-5165-1271-3 (br) For Jill, Audrey and Melody ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In practice, a book has many authors and editors, but only enough room on the cover and spine for one or two names. A book’s acknowledgement page offers the opportunity to recognize those who worked with, inspired, and tolerated the named author. Here goes: The team at Cognella Academic Publishing made the process as smooth as possible. Michelle Piehl, the project editor, has been unfailingly professional, prompt, and patient with me as I slogged through details and edits, and I didn’t always turn things around to her as soon as promised. Alright, rarely were things turned around to her as promised, but never did she express frustration or exasperation with my loose deadlines. If I’m ever for- tunate enough to publish with Cognella again, my first condition will be to have Michelle as my project editor. Sorry, Michelle. Dani Skeen was similarly patient and professional when awaiting my feedback on her promotional copy for the text. Dani, I only hope that the time I took to get it right will translate into higher sales volumes. Jennifer Codner, acquisitions editor, was my first contact with Cognella, and set the tone for all to come in terms of work and responsibilities in a conference call with Michelle that answered all of my questions and concerns without me having to ask. I had a wonder- ful lunch with her during her visit to campus, as she was remarkably classy, gracious, and interesting in discussing the publishing business. I was greatly impressed with the work of Miguel Macias, senior graphic designer, who chose a cover image for the preliminary edition that I still marvel at for its austere beauty. I hope it has been retained for this first edition. If not, I assure you he came up with something better. Berenice Quirino, associate production editor, seemed to suffer me gladly as I sent her partially-approved copyedits of essays and sections, when all she had wanted was fully-approved ones. To the anonymous copyeditor, you are not paid enough money. Ask your direct super- visor to approve my suggested changes now. vi The Straight Detroit Deep gratitude goes to former students Marissa Mewitz and Emily Smith for allowing me to use their coursework essays here. And my most heartfelt gratitude is extended to Gary Sands and Joel Stone for their original contributions that have greatly improved this work. Thanks also to my colleague Avis Vidal, whose conversation with other Cognella authors at a conference provided the inspiration to take on this project. Thanks also to my wife Jill, who too many times after a long day at work had to reach for the Excedrin because I needed her assistance with sentence or paragraph structure. Jill, what’s a gender-neutral word for wingman? Last, this book would not have been possible without my fabulous Wayne State University students, about whom I could write a text-length manuscript on their rich and oftentimes chal- lenging lives. Just like this great city itself. CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ����������������������������������������������������������������V PREFACE ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������IX INTRODUCTION ���������������������������������������������������������������������������XI SECTION I – HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES �������������������������������������� 1 1. Detroit History �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 3 Joel Stone 2. Potawatomi Indians of Detroit ����������������������������������������������������������������� 19 Susan Villerot 3. Elijah Brush, Transnational American ������������������������������������������������������� 25 Sharon Tevis Finch 4. The Apprenticeship: Good Government Mayor ��������������������������������������� 35 Melvin Holli SECTION II – INDUSTRIAL DECLINE AND LABOR ������������������������ 43 1. The Damning Mark of False Prosperities: The Deindustrialization of Detroit ������������������������������������������������������������ 45 Thomas J. Sugrue 2. Detroit: Industrial Democracy or Capitalist Oligarchy? ���������������������������� 77 Bryan Jones and Lynn Bachelor 3. The Demise of Detroit: Why the Big Three Lost? �������������������������������������� 91 Sumit Kumar Chaudhury and Hansa Iyengyar viii The Straight Detroit SECTION III – RACE AND POLITICS ���������������������������������������������103 1. “They Have Lost All Control in Detroit”: July 24, 1967..............................105 Sidney Fine 2. Benefit of the Redoubt �����������������������������������������������������������������������������135 Jeffrey Horner 3. Conflict Between the Black Community and the White Police �����������������145 Joe T. Darden and Richard Thomas 4. Emergence of Black Political Power After 1967 ����������������������������������������175 Joe T. Darden and Richard Thomas SECTION IV – PLANNING AND REGIONAL RELATIONS ��������������225 1. The Model City ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������227 Sidney Fine 2. Milliken v. Bradley; A Judicial Betrayal of Brown ��������������������������������������235 Nathaniel R. Jones 3. Politics and Policy in Metropolitan Detroit �����������������������������������������������239 Joe T. Darden, Richard Child Hill, June Thomas, and Richard Thomas 4. Urban Renewal and Detroit ����������������������������������������������������������������������285 Emily Smith 5. Detroit Public Transit: Past, Present, and Future ��������������������������������������297 Marissa Mewitz SECTION V – REBUILDING A LEGACY ������������������������������������������313 1. What Drives Detroiters? ���������������������������������������������������������������������������315 George Galster 2. Faith-Based Organizing for Metro Equity in Detroit ���������������������������������337 Victoria Kovari 3. Is Detroit America’s Future City? ��������������������������������������������������������������343 Gary Sands AUTHOR BIOS �����������������������������������������������������������������������������359 PREFACE hoosing relevant and appropriate readings for an introductory anthology is a painstaking task. Making vivid the facets of a subject of study in order to orient C the reader to the essence of the whole not only involves careful selection of salient works but also requires a knack for storytelling. These challenges seem all the more daunting when Detroit is the subject. Detroit, as asserted by urban scholar George Galster, is a palimpsest of generational experiences, ethnicities, races, and classes. Not surprisingly, it has produced a canon of first-rate scholarship and literature to draw from. But first some backstory: Having taught thousands of students in urban studies and Detroit-related courses, the editors of this work found it increasingly necessary to ag- gregate Detroit scholarship into a single work. Assigning one or two books on the city didn’t capture everything that needed to be captured, and distributing individual works piecemeal to students had become onerous and time-consuming. So it was with an eye toward convenience for future students and instructors that we approached a respected publisher about producing an anthologized text for classroom use. The intent of this book is to provide a set of in-depth perspectives on the city, including important historic events and economic, social, political, and cultural considerations that have shaped the city and continue to do so. While some of the essays included here have overlapping themes, each essay stands on its own as a unique work of explication. In addition, the concluding section contains essays that look to the future of what is referred to as America’s twentieth-century city. The reading selections herein were chosen as much for their exposition of Detroit as for their scholarly rigor. To the extent that there is a common theme running through Detroit scholarship, it would likely be the experiences of newcomers, including early French settlers, eighteenth-century British occupiers, nineteenth-century European set- tlers, twentieth-century African American job-seekers, and labor unions (and the turf wars of this last group, throughout the city and shop floors), to name a few. Accordingly,