(Sept 2024)
In the early 1900s, the city of Detroit was multiplying. By 1900, Detroit was home to around 300,000 residents, making it the 13th largest city in the United States according to the Detroit Historical Society. To top it off, a catchy new slogan spread quickly downtown: “In Detroit, life is worth living” (Detroit Free Press, 2021). This slogan was incorporated into businesses, postcards, songs, and even floral displays in Grand Circus Park. However, the slogan “In Detroit, Life is Worth Living” is problematic due to the persistent segregation of housing dating back to Detroit’s origins.
If “In Detroit, Life is Worth Living”, then why is it challenging for African Americans to find a safe place to live? The majority of housing discrimination incidents across the Detroit Metropolitan Area are due to race. According to data obtained from FHCMD discrimination cases and the American Community Survey, the percentage of housing discrimination incidents due to race in Detroit is 54.25%. Racial housing discrimination is a huge reason the Detroit homeownership rate fell from 55% to 47%” ("Residential Racial and Socioeconomic Segregation," 2020). Areas of Detroit remain segregated today and it raises the question of “In Detroit, Life is Worth Living” for the citizens forced into poorer areas due to their race. A shining example of African American citizens being subject to poverty is Black Bottom. As stated by Professor Deegan-Krause in his Week 3 lecture, Black Bottom was one of the poorest and densest neighborhoods in the east side of Detroit between the 1920s and 1930s, and it is no coincidence that around 70% of Detroit’s African American population lived there in 1920 (Detroit Divided, 2002). It is also no coincidence how in the late 1950s to early 1960s, Black Bottom, a neighborhood that became a central hub for African Americans, was selected for demolition to make way for a highway. For the citizens living in Black Bottom during this time, life was not worth living.
Racial discrimination is a big contributing factor to the decline in homeownership. Housing segregation is not new, however. African Americans have faced housing segregation since the Great Migration in the early 1900s. According to Farley Reynolds in Detroit Divided, “Restrictive covenants, real estate codes, and racial prejudice were forces that prevented African Americans from exercising free choice when it came to housing.” Additionally, “Haynes estimated that discrimination and lack of new housing stock were responsible for squeezing 12,000 to 15,000 Black Detroiters into the East Side… ” (Detroit Divided, 2002). For African Americans, “Detroit Life” meant the bottom of the barrel: unhealthy living conditions and overcrowded spaces. Furthermore, violence against African Americans was prevalent. As stated by Tiya Miles in Dawn of Detroit, “It seems that the old streets of Detroit are still drawing traffickers, who rely on the unwieldy size of the 139-square-mile city, its decreasing population, its proximity to major highways and bridges, and its status as America’s most active border for international trade to ensure ease of passage and anonymity for dreadful deeds.” Preceding this statement, Miles tells the harrowing story of two African American girls being held captive by Sedrick Mitchell in 2012. This story shows how the stain of slavery and racism in Detroit still prevails today. “Will Detroit's housing and unemployment problems be addressed? No. Will suburban housing segregation be combated, so blacks can move to suburbs? No. Will artificial boundaries be ended? No.” (Detroit, Where Life Is Worth Living, 1974).
“In Detroit, Life is Worth Living” is a statement that misses a huge part of Detroit’s redlining history. For many, Detroit Life may be worth living, but to generalize the statement to the entire Detroit population does not do the African American citizens justice. African Americans have and will continue to live under poor conditions and continual discrimination. For them “In Detroit, Life is not Worth Living”.