Detroit’s Bankruptcy: Underlying Racial Issues
Once the dreamland of industrialization and the Motor Capital of the world, Detroit officially became the largest city to enter bankruptcy in 2013. It would be indiscreet to argue that racial issues alone caused the bankruptcy as racial practices had always been intertwined with historical context, political context, and economic structure. However, given Detroit’s 82% population as African American, it is safe to say that racial issues played an indispensable role in Detroit’s fiscal crisis. In this paper, I will briefly discuss how government policies and macroeconomic trends shaped the development of racial practices and how racial issues, in turn, worked as a “time bomb” for Detroit’s bankruptcy. …show more content…
The unsurpassed economic opportunity made Detroit a dream destination of the Great Migration. Thousands of African-American migrants from the South came with the hope that Detroit would be free of segregation and have better economic offerings. Further spurred by the two World Wars, by 1960, Detroit had more than a quarter of its population as black. However, discrimination abounded in northern cities as well. The white interpreted the introduction of blacks as a threat to the neighborhoods and tried hard to avoid the newcomers. Two areas where the strongest discriminatory behaviors occurred are housing and
Once the dreamland of industrialization and the Motor Capital of the world, Detroit officially became the largest city to enter bankruptcy in 2013. It would be indiscreet to argue that racial issues alone caused the bankruptcy as racial practices had always been intertwined with historical context, political context, and economic structure. However, given Detroit’s 82% population as African American, it is safe to say that racial issues played an indispensable role in Detroit’s fiscal crisis. In this paper, I will briefly discuss how government policies and macroeconomic trends shaped the development of racial practices and how racial issues, in turn, worked as a “time bomb” for Detroit’s bankruptcy. …show more content…
The unsurpassed economic opportunity made Detroit a dream destination of the Great Migration. Thousands of African-American migrants from the South came with the hope that Detroit would be free of segregation and have better economic offerings. Further spurred by the two World Wars, by 1960, Detroit had more than a quarter of its population as black. However, discrimination abounded in northern cities as well. The white interpreted the introduction of blacks as a threat to the neighborhoods and tried hard to avoid the newcomers. Two areas where the strongest discriminatory behaviors occurred are housing and