THIS & THAT #31

SPECIAL DETROIT EDITION

But Anyone Can Read It — Even You

The Past Is Always Present

In your olde hometown, you may be aware of familiar street names such as John R, Brush, Mack, Van Dyke, Pingree, John C. Lodge, and James Couzens.

They all have something in common.

As do the names of the Buhl Building, Cobo Hall (auto show)

and the Jeffries Housing Project.

What is the common thread tying them all together?

Itv Tukel knows the answer, as does Eugene Driker, Arnie Garber, Stuart Opotowsky, Stanley Halprin, Harvey Zalla, and many more of you.

Race Relations

All of the above (except Tukel, Driker, Garber, Opotowsky, Halprin and Zalla) were the names of former Mayors of Detroit, primarily before we entered elementary school, and they were all White males. Since that time, the following individuals have served as Detroit’s mayors; some were White (W), and others were either Negroes (N), Colored (C) or Black (B) (your choice of designation).

Edward Jeffries 1940-1948 (W)

Eugene Van Antwerp 1948-1949 (W)

Albert Cobo   1950-1957 (W)

Louis Miriani  1957-1962 (W)

Jerome Cavanagh  1962-1970 (W)

Roman Gribbs  1970-1974 (W)

Coleman Young 1974-1994            Mayor (N,C, or B)

Dennis Archer   1994-2001            Mayor (N,C, or B)

Kwame Kilpatrick  2002-2008      Mayor (N,C, or B)

He resigned in 2008 after pleading guilty to two counts of felony obstruction of justice

Kenneth Cockrel, Jr.  2008-2009  Interim Mayor (N,C, or B)

David Bing  May 2009-2013          Former Detroit Piston and 

                                                           Mayor (N,C, or B)

Mike Duggan, a White man, was elected Mayor in 2014. He will be opposed in the November 7^th Mayoral race by Coleman Young II, the N, C, or B son of Coleman Young. See the attached article for more information.

Now It’s Our Turn

When I started teaching at the University of Detroit in 1966, the population in Detroit-area public schools was on the decline, blamed in part on “white flight” to the suburbs. At the same time, school board members who were primarily N, C, or B, were taking advantage of whatever fringe benefits they could grab. This included siphoning monies from an already tight budget for their own personal perks, such as having chauffer-driven limousines available when they were so inclined to use them.   

I had an intelligent, articulate 35-year-old Black woman in my classes, and I was her principal advisor. She had two children in the Detroit public school system, and when I asked her if she was aware of this misuse of educational funds that could better serve her children, Carol said to me; “Your people (Whites) have been doing the same thing for years. Now it’s our turn.”