Poverty During peak years
Poverty has and will always be present, in any time period, in any city. Detroit is no exception, even during its hay day's there was still poverty in Detroit. In the 1950's Detroit when it was at it's peak, it was considered by many to be the best city in the United states. However, Detroit was super reliant on the Automobile industry at this time. The unemployment rate during the 1950's was at 5.3 in Detroit, compared to 12 percent that Detroit has now. Even though Detroit was going through an prosperous period economic wise, not everything was perfect. After World War 2 there were a lot of racial issues that were occurring. Leaving Detroit divided as they sought out this issue. The reason why these race riots are important for Detroit because the social injustice that occurred in this time period still affect Detroit.
Racial Tensions
In the 1950's post-World war 2 and post baby boom there were lots of tension among all Americans due to racial problems. During this time period many minorities in the United States felt as though they were not being treated equally and they decided to fight back. Some of the issues that caused this up roar against social injustice were because of the rise of the KKK in Detroit. As well as the fact that blacks were often excluded from numerous industrial jobs, especially more skilled and supervisory positions.
Race Riots
"Altercation's between youths started on June 20, 1943, on a warm Sunday evening on Belle Isle, an island in the Detroit River off Detroit's mainland. In what is considered a communal disorder, youths fought intermittently through the afternoon. The brawl eventually grew into a confrontation between groups of whites and blacks on the long Belle Isle Bridge, crowded with more than 100,000 day trippers returning to the city from the park. From there the riot spread into the city. Sailors joined fights against blacks. The riot escalated in the city after a false rumor spread that a mob of whites had thrown an African-American mother and her baby into the Detroit River. Blacks looted and destroyed white property as retaliation."
“The acts of the police were a big contributor to the riots. While African Americans were trying to move into the Sojourner Truth Housing Project, white folk would stand outside their tenants armed with rocks, sticks, and other weapons to attack them. When police were called to the scene, all that they did was direct the African Americans away from their homes, and search any of them that came close to the scene, head to toe. White people weren't searched, or disarmed. During the race riot, police would only persuade white people to stop their wrong doings, while the African Americans were beat with night sticks, and shot with riot guns and revolvers. Out of the 34 people killed by police, 24 of them were African American. The riots lasted three days and ended only after Mayor Jeffries and Governor Harry Kelly asked President Roosevelt to intervene. He ordered in federal troops; a total of 6,000 troops imposed a curfew, restored peace and occupied the streets of Detroit. Over the course of three days of rioting, 34 people had been killed. 25 were African Americans; 17 were killed by the police (their forces were predominantly white and dominated by ethnic whites). Thirteen deaths remain unsolved. 9 deaths reported were white, and out of the arrest made, 85% of them were African American, and only 15% were white. Of the approximately 600 persons injured, more than 75 percent were black people, and of the roughly 1,800 people arrested over the course of the three-day riots, 85 percent were black."
How this affects Detroit today
The race riots themselves don't have an effect on modern day Detroit, what does still have an affect on Detroit are the social inequalities that they were fighting against in these Race Riots . By this I mean that the redlining that happened in Detroit is still very much alive in our day and age. For those of you who don't know, red lining is - to refuse (a loan or insurance) to someone because they live in an area deemed to be a poor financial risk. In this time period most African Americans were being refused low interest loans, however whites were able to get the loans quite easily. This is important because those loans allowed people to get property and own a home. It allowed people to move out of the city and into the suburbs. Due to the fact that only whites were getting loans African Americans were unable to own as much property as white therefore they were forced to live in the city. The consequences of these actions can still be seen today. How you make ask ? Well since African Americans couldn't move to the suburbs the were forced to stay in the city making the city a predominantly African American city, that accounts for 84.3 percent of Detroit's population.
This video just shows what was happening during these times of racial tension and racial injustice in the 1950's