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.”

THIS & THAT #2

FOUR JEWISH BOYS FROM "THE HOOD"

In 1950, the City of Detroit’s population was at its highest, with 1,849,568 people, and 83.68 percent were white.

By 1960, the population had dropped to 1,670,144, and it fell each year until it had plummeted to 713,777 in 2010. That year, the black population represented 82.69 percent of Detroit’s residents.

In the 1950s when I was in high school, inner-city Detroit basketball players reflected the population as a whole, and were mainly white.

Those who lived in Detroit’s Jewish neighborhoods were most likely to attend Detroit Central High, Cass Technical High, or Northwestern High. Each year, Jews moved further north, trying to escape the inevitable, and the upstart pink and blue Mumford High became the public school to attend. This was just before the Jewish exodus to the safety of the near suburbs and beyond.

Among those high school basketball players who happen to be Jewish, were the Four Gees.  Those of you from the Detroit area were sent an email letter with clues, and now we will make it easier for you by telling a story about each of them.

If you have any recollections of your own, send them our way. The winning entry will receive the admiration of all of the other Detroit-area recipients, along with a special prize — two tickets to the next Saturday matinee at either the Dexter or Avalon movie houses.

THE FOUR GEES

Ralph Goldstein played for Central High, and was a First Team PSL member. He was captain of the University of Detroit Titans in 1955-56. He died on June 30, 1988 at the age of 53.

Jerry Greenberg played for Central High from 1949-1952, and was a Third Team PSL selection in 1952. He was a member of the Wayne University Tartars (now the Warriors), who won 17 and lost only one game in the 1955-56 season. The team made it to the sweet sixteen before losing to the University of Kentucky.

Fred Goldberg was a varsity basketball and baseball player at Northwestern High, and was awarded a scholarship to Detroit Institute of Technology. He became a coach and an athletic director, and died in Arizona.

Walter Godfrey played basketball and baseball for Cass Tech, and was a Second Team All-State basketball selection in 1952.  He was a starting guard for Michigan State University from 1954-1956. He was also the starting pitcher on the Spartan's Big 10 championship baseball team in 1954.

Find my recent and semi-regular writings here on the new Ho-Ho-Kus Cogitator blog, and there are current essays here, on What I Have to Stay.

You can also find earlier writings here on the original Ho-Ho-Kus Cogitator blog, and other writings here on the Huffington Post.

If you like, add bookmarks for these writings. 

  

When you want to relax, try the calming exercise movements while learning Yiddish, found in his book The Oy Way — Following the Path of Most Resistance, by going here. Then click on YOU TUBE on the left side, and you will begin to find di zakhtkayt — tranquility.