Deroiters

Apparently, we aren't regular people. We are an uncivilized bunch of know-nothings according to the
'conservatives'.
I don't feel uncivilized.
I believe I know some things.
For instance, I know the U.S. constitution should come into play when a state usurps the rights of U.S. citizens in a municipality.
I know we Detroiters don't need an appointed 'emergency manager' in order to declare bankruptcy.
I realize the criminal justice system does all it can to criminalize our male children.
I know business, real estate, and some segments of labor abandoned Detroit when it became apparent
to them no all white contractors were allowed city contracts.
I know the state legislature, and the now governor, are arch enemies of this city.
We have been roundly criticised for years for having even a school system.
Who would want to go to school with a bunch of black children? Well, our children do.
Who would want a school full of black teachers and administrators?
We do- though we don't often have that anymore.
Most middle classed blacks have moved into the surrounding suburbs.
But those of us who stayed, stayed either because we didn't care for suburban living, or we had no
money to leave.
Those of us who want to stay on know of some good things in the city.
Greektown is still fun, even if it is small.
The universities here offer community outreach in many areas.
Marygrove college is here. It still trains teachers and allied health professionals.
The University of Detroit is here. They run undergrad programs and train dentists and lawyers.
Wayne State University is here with myriad nationally famous undergrad and grad programs.
Mercy College in Detroit is  now part of The University of Michigan.
The soul food restaurants are mainly cash and carry, but we love them.
Cars are easy to purchase here.
The Detroit Opera House often has great classical fare, especially in dance.
Theater is not as plentiful as it once was- but when shows come to the Fisher theater they are quite
good.
The Detroit Repetory Theater is esoteric, but a mainstay for decades.
The Bonstelle and Hillberry are world famous, and run by Wayne State.
Of course our churches are vibrant, plentiful, some beautiful, and engaging.
Our churches come in all denominations.
Rich Detroiters have been criticised for staying here, and sending their kids to private schools.
Poor unwed mothers have been sent to outlying cities in order to get Section 8 housing.
They come back home.
Living in Detroit is not always easy, but it is better to be here than to pay a million dollars to live in
sterile, abstract surroundings.
Poor families cannot afford to live elsewhere,
Rich families can afford security, and to get away to wherever they want whenever they want.
Young families have moved to nearby suburbs, or, if they are unwilling to pay exorbitant taxes, to
Clinton Township, far far from center city.
Suffice it to say; not all of us are uncivilized.
Many of us who have been criminalized are not criminal- or dangerous by any means.
We are not so young anymore, but we are intelligent.
Should we move to some creepy suburb so that some freak can stalk and call the 'police' on one of our under-aged sons, then shoot the child through the heart, clean himself up, go home, go on trial after much prodding, so that a 'jury' can tell us all that uncivilized nonsense was 'law'?
No. I don't think so.
As our Mayor Coleman A.Young said when the upright in our state complained about guns in the
city: 'Are you kidding? Can't you see Detroit is surrounded by The Militia?
I believe in gun registration, but Mayor Young was 100% on the money.
This state is more and more an enemy of the people.
Michigan so wants to be Mississippi, circa 1900, if they can't be the Mississippi of the antebellum south.