First of all, I really like that we got to read Origins of the Urban Crisis. I thought the book was very informative and it was clear that Thomas Sugrue did his research and knew exactly what he was talking about. Additionally, I liked how he explained things by getting to the root of the current issues Detroit faces, and did not shy away from acknowledging and openly discussing racial tensions and inequalities in the city, state, and federal governments and police forces. The one challenge I had with this book was how dense it was–it wasn’t an easy, casual read, and so when I wanted to read I had to really focus on digesting all of the information. It makes sense that it is that way, because the topic is complicated and multifaceted, however the book’s density was definitely something to point out.
One thing I took away from the book that was really interesting to me was on page 34. Dr. Sugrue quotes Charles Butler, a Detroit minister from Arkansas who says, “One of the things that was inbred in us in the south is that land is extremely important–a home and some land. My parents used to say to me… ‘get you a piece of land because that’s the only thing nobody can move you off.’ It was that kind of mentality that formed the background for small parcel acquisitions of housing in the city of Detroit.” This quote stood out to me because before reading it I had just watched What the Health on Netflix, which is a documentary about the food and meat industries in America and the health and environmental impacts of them. At one point the movie showed rural communities in North Carolina living close to the hog farms, and they discussed the pollution and negative health effects that come from living so close to the farms. The animal waste runs into the water, and the water is sprayed in the air over the crops. The families living next door to these farms end up breathing in animal waste, along with other chemicals such as the antibiotics that are fed to pigs to make them grow faster. Also, an important note, the people living in the communities closest to these farms are people of color. This really upset me, but most importantly it took was Butler said and proved a point: even though nobody can “move you off” a piece of land, it’s been proven that corporations, with help from the federal government, can contaminate and directly harm the surrounding communities, because somehow profits are more important than the health of communities of color.
What this quote reminded me of is how little has changed in this country’s history. Though people of color can own houses and land, their land is at risk of contamination, so though Butler’s parents taught him a home and some land is the only thing that can’t be taken away, it just goes to show that it can be changed, polluted, devalued, etc. and that we’ve still got a long way to go in correcting the housing and property injustices have taken place and continue to do so in this country.
