Analysis: Who Was To Blame For The Detroit Riots

The Detroit race riot of 1967 was one the most destructive and violent riots of the 159 race riots that occurred during the “Long Hot Summer.” For five straight days civilians fought the police, resulting in 43 deaths, 1,189 injuries, 7,200 arrests, and over 2,500 lootings. Fifty years later there are still visible results of the riot, and the event remains a source of reflection for Detroit citizens. Asides from the building damage and violence, the riots affected various aspects of Detroit's culture, including the Motown enterprise, which was producing chart-topping music that influenced listeners across the globe. As a genre of music that was known as “The Sound of Young America” in the 1960s, studying the Motown sound before and after the riots can provide insight into Detroit citizens’ mindset.

News organizations that report on stories in a fair, balanced and ethical manner are essential to the functionality of this nation. A citizen’s ability to make well-informed decisions hinges on a news organization’s ability to relay the most accurate information regarding the state of the nation, the changing condition of communities, and adjustments in the government. Journalism is no longer a one-sided conversation. Journalism is an interactive process that allows for readers and viewers to create a dialogue with journalists by utilizing mediums such as social networking sites and comment sections. Audiences have a say in what stories get reported and how news stories are presented to the masses. When news organizations fail to cover all

Culture in urban communities, also referred to as inner-cities, are growing increasingly violent. In the article, The Code of the Streets by Elijah Anderson, he begins to take an in-depth look at the root of the evil. He deduces that economic factors, parenting and the troublesome environments largely influence the violent norms within this culture.

Requiem for Detroit? is a historical documentary, released in 2010 and directed by Julien Temple, about the decline and collapse of Detroit, one of America’s largest cities. It chronicles Detroit’s journey through its success in the automobile industry all the way through its urban decay and industrial collapse to the present day. As the film draws a close, Temple also suggests some ways forward for Detroit. He presents possibilities and clearly shows which he thinks is most likely through his use of interviews with subjects and visual representations of these offered opinions. The intended reading that Temple offers viewers is a complex one, with many anti-consumerist and anti-corporate ideas and leanings. Despite the ‘doom-laden’ feel of much of the text, Temple paints optimism for the potential for a progressive and productive future for Detroit. Throughout the documentary he clearly expresses this intended reading through effective use of motifs, shown by visual and sound techniques, music and interviews with both privileged and non-privileged characters.

Detroit, the largest city in the state of Michigan, unfortunately has been plagued with a high crime rate resulting in synonymous acts of violence, poverty, and urban decay. A multitude of factors are considered when determining accurate explanations of crime within Detroit. These factors include changes in land use, property values, transportation, and retail, as an individual moves further away from the city center. According to Robert Park and Ernest Burgess, Chicago School, a city was similar to a body and consisted of various organs. The theory attempted to analyze criminality from an ecological and social disorganization standpoint. This theory asserted that a city included distinctive concentric circles that radiated from the central business district (CBD). Supposedly, the further one moves away from the concentric zones, the fewer social problems that exist (Williams & McShane, 2009, p. 86).

Recently Detroit has been publicly experiencing a lot of issues within the city, which has cause many people to speak out on the matter. Alex Johnson was no different, He wrote in article called “No Water, No Teachers: Behind Detroit's Surge, Old Problems Stubbornly Persist”. Throughout the article Johnson discuss the harsh reality of living in Detroit and the affect it has on the community. As I read this article I felt empathic for the people of Detroit because no person deserve to be without water or a stable education. Overall I felt that the article was a cry for help and that the government really needs to step up and help.

Acts of crime and violence were common in Detroit when “The Disappeared” takes place. The city of Detroit was in distress in 1990 and the years leading up to 1990. Members of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found, “75 percent of the population in Detroit lived in tracts with poverty rates of 20 percent or higher in 1990” (Neal and Bunce 129). (p129). With poverty comes crime. Crime is committed by those living below the poverty line as Raymond J. Michalowsk discusses, “Approximately 40% of all those imprisoned in the United States were either unemployed or employed only part time when arrested, and nearly two thirds had incomes below poverty level” (qtd. in Michalowsk 16-17). Crime and violence was present in Detroit and it is represented well in the story. In Baxter’s short story there are many instances where crime clearly influences “The Disappeared”.

Snyder analyzed law enforcement homicides as his study’s dependent variable because doing so emphasizes, on a smaller scale, a theory that usually focuses on the macro-level. While increased numbers of police does not always reflect greater strains between the police and civilians, homicides have life-altering consequences for all those involved. Thus, number of law enforcement homicides arguably represents a more qualitatively useful variable than police force

It is not hard to realize that the vast majority of cities in the world are located near a body of water. However, I never really thought about the reason why many American cities are located near the great lakes until I learned about the canals and rivers connecting the lakes to the ocean. One thing I got out of reading about the rise and fall of Detroit is that education is key. This is evident in New York’s ability to rebound from economic crisis. Education correlates with innovation and the spread of new ideas, which is something Detroit did not have and led to its downfall. The crimes against African Americans throughout the history of this country were further expressed and one can see why they rioted in Detroit.

The riot in Chicago undermined the development of the labor movement because workers and union leaders could not raise the public opinion in support of their goals because the public viewed them as anarchists and terrorists. Newspapers were very right winged and were the voice of capitalism, rarely taking on a pity role toward the lower class and horrifically describing the events whilst giving heroic accounts of the government officials and police officers. In such a situation, it was easy for the government and the ruling elite to oppress the labor movement in the US and the American workers and unions had a long way to go to protect rights of workers and to change the attitude of Americans to the labor movement. James Green points out editorial

In the novel, Detroit: An American Autopsy, Charlie LeDuff, a former reporter for The Detroit News and The New York Times, provides a personal account of his experience of returning to his hometown of Detroit after journalistic work in New York and Los Angeles. Detroit has long been a prime example of urban decay: it is a city that presents images of mass unemployment, political corruption, looming bankruptcy, abandoned buildings, and senseless slaughter. It has gone through major economic, political, and demographic decline in the recent decades, with even the city’s notorious and once thriving automobile industry struggling with increasing global competition. Once deemed as “Paris of the Midwest”, LeDuff portrays the city’s lost prosperity

Systemic racism, government apathy, The isolation of impoverished communities, Gang influence, the poor quality of education in many predominantly Black public schools, and the loss of living wage jobs have all played a part in creating the ongoing bloodshed. Chicago is now a dual city: one mainly white city located in areas close to the new economy with residents who have high levels of formal education and moderate to high levels of income. The other city is moving to the south and west. It is mainly Black, Latino, and poor. Chicago is no longer known for its vibrant skyline and food. Now, when people think of Chicago, they associate it with violence and the latest gangsta rap.

Lawrence (2013) promotes a theory that expresses the relationship between gentrification and violent crime rates, specifically in Washington, DC. Gentrification is a social marvel that includes center and privileged residents moving into the city area where vehement crime had at one time went about as an issue for keeping undesirable demographics out. An increment in requesting for housing by the higher salary inhabitants drives up the

Detroit tops Forbes list of the Most Dangerous Cities this year for the fifth year in a row. What is encouraging is the violent crime rate in the Motor City actually declined last year, despite crushing financial woes that drove Detroit into the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. Crime affects the people of Detroit and the city’s reputation, employment, income and education. It should be stopped to make Detroit prosper and make the lives of the people living there better. Detroit had 316 murders in 2013, a rate of 45 per 100,000 people. That 's the highest rate among cities with populations over 100,000. In 2013 Detroit also reported 14,504 violent crimes. That 's also the highest per capita rate in the nation, according to the annual report. The total is comprised of rapes, murder, robbery and aggravated assault.

The paper shows that this theory hypothesizes that there exist areas in a city in which traditional institutions have little or no control. This was studied in Chicago using a system of "Concentric Zones" which demonstrated that most of the crime in the city occurs within certain areas that are typically associated with poverty. This area is referred to as the zone of transition, an area related to lower cost housing with high turnover rates. Cornerville can be seen as being the zone of transition of the eastern city of Boston, “although it is only a few minutes’ walk from higher class streets, to the rest of the city it’s a mysterious, depressing and dangerous place” (Whyte, 1993, pg1,).