It seems that the “social justice” crowd is at it again, trying to subtly suggest that because Detroit has a white Mayor, that blacks are being discriminated against.
Downtown Detroit has been fashionably in redevelopment and undergoing resurgence since the economic downturn, but not everyone is feeling welcome.
With its shiny new facades on chic eateries, cafes and microbreweries, the bright transformation and new attitude has often been called “New Detroit.” It’s all a point of pride for Mike Duggan, the first white mayor elected in 40 years who took office last year. His efforts ranging from urban landscaping to lowering the crime rate to incubating booming businesses have brought new hope for the Motor City—consistently plagued for decades with scandals, crime and blight.
Yet, many black Detroiters are crying foul, saying Detroit is becoming a tale of two cities; while young, white residents enjoy a stylish, prosperous downtown, black business owners say they are being systematically forced out of business.
Not everyone is buying that little lie however:
Charlie Beckham, Detroit’s Group Executive for Neighborhoods, who invited the first group of business owners to talk, is adamant there is no effort to push out black businesses. Instead, he said, the economy has changed, and people are repositioning.
“There are plenty of successful black business owners doing the right thing. They scratched and saved and paid their workers before they bought the Cadillac,” said Beckham, who has served six mayors since the late Coleman Young, the city’s first black mayor. “The responsibility is on us. When you’ve had a month-to-month lease for 25 years, and you get pushed out of your lease or when you lose your property because you didn’t pay your mortgage or taxes, that’s just bad business.”
Meanwhile, Smith negotiated a lease with new building owners and Spectacles is staying put. Mo’ Better Blues, which in October won a $50,000 Motor City Match grant from the city of Detroit, is celebrating its grand opening in another downtown location on November 7. The Mongos continue to run Café D’Mongo’s Speakeasy, a downtown bar/restaurant.
“We’ve got to tighten up in this new environment,” Beckham said. “Buy the building. Negotiate a strong lease. If the economy goes up or down, you will not get pushed out. Is there still racism? Yes. But we can’t let that be an excuse.”
Here’s what I wrote in the comments section of this story:
Amazing, the same people that are largely responsible for the downfall of my great city are now @!$%#ing because they’re not being allowed to do it again. How quaint.
The truth is, if you don’t have the money to be in business, you shouldn’t be in business to start with! NO ONE is entitled to anything! If you can’t hang with the big dogs, get off the porch!
Racist? No. Racial Realist? Yes.
If you ain’t got the flow to be in business, than take your broke black a$$ on down the road and let someone who does have the building, it is just that simple.
Amazing how blacks think that they’re entitled to everything. This is what happens when you give them special treatment. Give them an inch and they try to take a mile.
I stand behind that comment 100%.