Everyone not living under a rock knows, the Super Bowl is in Detroit this year. I think it’s probably good for the city. Ya see, Detroit has had it’s days. From the good stuff on Hastings Street to the riots in the 60’s. Then to it’s decline in the 70’s and beyond to the economic uncertainty and drugs of the 80’s and 90’s. It’s because of this steady decline, when people hear about Detroit, they probably think of drugs and poverty. Hell, even I fled when I got the first opportunity.
When you turn on your TV to watch the Super Bowl, you will likely see the new downtown area. The area built to attract tourist. You won’t see the neighborhoods. You won’t see the people who have lived through the high-off-the-hog days of ‘good’ factory jobs and the losing-homes-and-boats days caused by lay-off from those same factories. You won’t see the people who have lived their entire lives in the town with no hopes of moving elsewhere. You can find people like this in any ‘forgotten’ city. Right?
The thing that gets me about Detroit is that there’s so much promise. I only lived there for 12 years. As far back as I can remember, I knew that wouldn’t be the place where I’d raise a family. Not because of crime or poverty because I didn’t see too much of that. But Detroit never really felt like home to me.
I remember when we’d go to NY to visit relatives. Even as a small child, upon return, I could see that the sky was different there. Not until I came back the first time after going to Howard was I able to put into words the problem with the Detroit sky. The sun really didn’t shine the same. Everything seemed like it was covered with a layer of salt. Yep!!! Just like your car looks when it’s covered with salt after a winter snow. I’m serious.
Unlike what you’ll hear, Detroit wasn’t a big ghetto. There were some rough parts. However, there was also community. When my mom was working or in school, our elderly neighbor, Ms. Johnson, walked me to and from school everyday. I remember when her dog died and I remember naming her new one. If I was in the candy store buying too much junk, the owner would put a halt to it. If I was on the wrong side of my elelmentary school in the morning, my mom’s best friend would give me a stern look and send me to where I belonged. Then, when the widow moved away, into an assisted living community, Janice, the stay at home mother was in charge of getting me to and from my bus stop when my mom couldn’t. And when my brother was old enough for school, had he gone to the neighborhood school, his teacher would have been the same one who taught my step-dad’s kindergarten class.
When you think of the ghetto, you usually think of projects. Detroit had two or three sets. As best I can recall, they were all closed by the time I left in 1992. I once lived in a townhouse. Other than that it was always a brick house! Everyone I knew lived in a house, had a driveway, and a garage. Everyone I knew worked hard–doesn’t mean it was legal work, but it was work nonetheless. Hahaha!! And everyone looked out.
As a city that had and has so much promise, with every visit I wondered why they just couldn’t get it together. I think it’s a mentality where they believe the world starts and begins there. The way it is today is the way it was and the way it shall be. No questions asked. I always felt like most people didn’t want to even flirt with the idea that life could be different. Life didn’t have to be scratching and surviving in a place where the sun barely shines. But that’s just me. Most of my friends, once we left, we never went back to live. If we didn’t work in the shrinking automotive industry, opportunities were few and far between. Not only that but the class division is pronounced so much so that it can become uncomfortable. But I guess you have that anywhere you go. Right?
When you see all the fanciness on television, you’re probably seeing the new Detroit. One that’s catering to outsiders. I never quite understood why the post-Civil Rights Era generation didn’t pull it together and keep the city thriving. Even now, it’s not the residents who will benefit most from the improvements.
Overall though, I don’t have the worse memories of my time in Detroit. Yes, I lived in the city–not a suburb that claims Detroit. The good times I remember though, weren’t based on location. It was based on a sence of community and friendships.
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