Week 9

I’ve already made a post regarding the 12th Street Rebellion, however, it was motivated by my aunt’s anecdotes that she’d tell me as I grew up. Sugrue’s book helped me understand all that built up to the rebellion. If you’re family’s been in Detroit for generations, more than likely, you’ll know what happened. Younger people will hear about the tanks from their great aunts, rumored snipers, the national guard stationed at local high schools, or the poor treatment firefighters and minority police officers received. After reading, I’ve figured calling the ’67 rebellion a ‘race riot’ oversimplifies the problems. Yes, it was driven by the racial mistreatment black received, but there were also human rights violated (police brutality, redlining/lack of housing, discrimination in public places, etc.)

I still stand by what I’ve mentioned before in conversations with the cohort: I think history is repeating itself, and its evident with the Qline. Detroit had streetcars in the 50’s that transformed into the mass regional transportation system known as DDOT….I’m hoping people take note of Detroit’s history and learn from it before trying to ‘fix’ a problem they don’t understand.