The author, Robert Reich, has either never spent any time in Detroit studying the issue, nor has he read anything to do with the social and economic problems there. The loss of white population began in the late 1960s. Between 1965 and 1980 Detroit lost half of its population and a good portion of its tax base. The population and tax base that was left could not support the spending of the citys administration, especially the over-generous city employee pay, pension and benefits. The citys politicians catered to the employee unions to get re-elected over and again. The irresponsibility of the politicians to address this problem is one of the major contributors to the current situation. Think about it, in 1960 Detroit had almost two million citizens and one of the wealthiest cities in America. Today less than 750,000 call Detroit home and it is virtually a third world city. White flight happened because the city could not guarantee their safety and decent schools and sound neighborhoods. Middle class African Americans joined them in the 1990s as things grew worse. Many African Americans fled to Oakland County and now live in nice suburban neighborhoods with their white neighbors after their Detroit neighborhoods deteriorated to the point of unlive-ability. The author seems to think that all the white people stole the money and took it to Oakland County and forget that Detroit is part of Wayne County, which is home to almost 1.5 million people OUTSIDE of Detroit City. The citizens of Wayne County are also a mixture of white, African American and Middle Eastern people. Neighboring Macomb County also borders Detroit with a mix of white and African American citizens as well, so the theme that the white people are solely to blame is ridiculous at best. Anyone who wanted a better life and more opportunity for their family left Detroit to start over in the suburbs. Dr Reich should be ashamed of himself for race-baiting. He is a university professor of Economics and should know how to do his research before publishing his personal theories as reasoned fact.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 20:15:13 +0000
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