With Focus: HOPE’s past of emerging from the 1967 Detroit riots, I found this article to be an interesting and different take on the these sort of events in the city over time. Charlie LeDuff’s opinion piece, A Beating in Detroit, brings together the past and present of the “two-way street” that is racial violence. LeDuff explains how even over many years, it’s been considered easier when one is white, but violence has been a huge concern in Detroit.
The author cites to a recent event within Detroit when a white man accidentally hit a kid with his truck and upon helping the kid, was almost beaten to death by a mob. This occurrence didn’t receive as much public acknowledgment as some people had hoped and LeDuff claims that all of Detroit “whether black or white, noticed the silence”. The problem with the unfortunate incident was that the crime was overlooked by many public figures and many people continue to act as if race doesn’t play a role in violence today.
The most interesting aspect of this piece was the acknowledgment that racial violence isn’t one-sided. In order to build a safer Detroit, everyone has to work together to set aside racial biases to end violence. Although the days of the Detroit riots are far in the past, there is still violence within the city. This racial violence needs to be left in the past in order for Detroit to move forward
