By Anthony Sherman Staff Writer
It doesn’t take much to realize that the city of Detroit is one of the most racially segregated cities in America. When traveling to other states, the realization that all cultures of similar economic levels, no matter the ethnicity, typically live together in the same community. Often, citizens are not cognizant of the problem of segregation in Detroit due to complacency and the majority of the population being African American. This way of living is damaging to youth by limiting their interaction with people outside of their race. The isolation of the African American culture is negatively affecting our economy, and more importantly, investment and stakeholders that reside in Detroit.
This separation holds our youth back and as a result we get young, children running the streets, committing crimes, this is just another bad statistic for a city already in the dark.
This problem with segregation begins with African Americans, who people fought for to be able to interact and live with people of different races. Yet, still want to be stubborn and not get over how bad they were treated in the days of slavery and Jim Crow law. African Americans have to realize that yes this culture was mistreated but those days are over and now people can live with whomever they like and if you can work together as people trying to rebuild this city, then this can return Detroit to its former glory. Yes, racism still exist but it’s not as bad or as flamboyant as it was before, we have to realize this and be willing to interact and live with people outside our race and it will have a better result for the people of Detroit as a whole.
“I feel as though segregation in Detroit affects education,” senior Darius Lindsey said. ”Suburban areas get better supplies and education for schools.”
“Segregation is really holding the city back,” senior DeMarco Jenkins said, “not only does it affect the people, it affects the city’s economy.”
People need to become more aware of the racial segregation in Detroit. It may just seem like it is normal living this way but that’s only because citizens have not been exposed to how other people in other places live. They live together as people of different races in the same community so why can’t this community? Segregation is the biggest problem holding back the rebirth of our city. So, I say we need to repair our city so that a more diverse crowd will migrate and live here, or even as tourists. Detroiters, as people in the same city, have to learn how to live together to better their lives and this wonderful city.
