Another significant place in my early life journey was my grandmother’s house. Not too far from my childhood home on the east of Detroit was my Granny’s duplex. It too was a brick house. Sturdy it stood with a sheltered green carpeted porch that resembled the texture of low-cut grass and potted flowers leading you up the stairs from the sidewalk to the front door. The railings of the porch were also made of brick. This was my sister; cousins and I favorite place to climb. However, inside the house there was no climbing, running, or any horsing around. My grandmother had fine China, heavy glass, carved wood, and classical Victorian style furniture, in the most front room. What I remember the most is that the living room furniture still had the plastic on it. Granny had nice things and always wanted to keep them that way. Which is why I struggled to accept the pile of wreckage I saw when I came back from college to visit in 2014.
The house at 4430 Maxwell had been destroyed along with all the memories. We lost all tangible records of my now deceased grandmother, grandfather (who passed away before I was born), my father. I was able to save a brick from the pile before the debris was removed. I keep this brick as a memorial of my grandparents, the memories of my father’s child home and a symbol of hope. I intend on buying the land and rebuilding my grandmother’s home and putting the brick back in its rightful place. To this day, my family doesn’t know exactly what happened, but judging by the circumstances and living conditions of the east side of Detroit at that time, we were sure it was a drug related crime.
It was said to have been bombed by a neighborhood gang seeking revenge on the tenant that stayed in the other unit of the duplex. However, my family was no stranger to the effects the Crack Cocaine Epidemic of 80’s and 90’s. My uncle had fallen victim to the epidemic as early as 16 years old. My father, who later adopted the same drug habit, was murdered in 2004. Yes, we were devastated at his passing but not surprised.
Detroit has been historically known for drugs and crime. In 1974, Detroit had its highest number of reported homicides of 714 which earned the city the nickname "Murder capital of the world."(ref) It was also America’s motor vehicle and transportation hub during the Industrial Revolution[1] and was a catalytic symbol of freedom for African Americans during the years of the Great Migration. According to the 2020 FBI Uniform Crime Report by the Census, Detroit is still top 5 most violent cities in the United States.
From where I stood as a teenager, it appeared to me that the crimes were only happening in my community to people that looked like me. It was very rare you heard anything on the news about communities and neighborhoods on the outskirts (suburbs) of Detroit. I wondered why it seemed like only where I lived was the danger zone. I revisited that curiosity as I was developing this thesis and discovered my feelings weren’t far from the truth.
Figure _ shows a map of the current Drug-Related Crime per Capita in Detroit Metro per 1000 residents (ref). The red areas are the most dangerous. My childhood home, Granny’s house, middle school, and high school is within the deepest of the red areas near the Detroit River. The next map shows the population of Detroit in the year 2000 (4 years before my father was murdered) color coded by ethnicity (ref). The deep orange = high concentration of Caucasian populations. Where you see green = Black, Asian = red, purple = Hispanic, and blue = American Indian. When compared, we can see the areas where the majority minority residents live also have the highest rates of drug related crimes. These areas were destined for these attributes far before I was born.
In the 1930’s, government sponsored mortgage lenders and the Federal housing authority started producing maps that identified minority neighborhoods as “hazardous” to investment. The maps outlined and highlighted the areas that were “desirable” and “safe” as great for home investment in green and the “not so desirable” in red. This system is historically known as “redlining” and the name originated from the physical appearance of the maps. I’ll be further investigating redlining and clarifying historical context in the historical review (How did we get here?).
Left is the redlining map of Detroit made in 1939. The area’s highlighted in red and yellow are considered third and fourth graded properties. Government appraisers “red lined” neighborhoods with any Black families and neighborhoods adjacent thereto, regardless of income or housing quality, making them ineligible for government housing investments. Neighborhoods with a diversity of immigrants were also redlined (ref). This motivated a racially segregated housing market as well as promoted the continuously growing wealth gap in America. Redlining is the common explanation for historic disinvestment in predominantly African American and minority neighborhoods. Which is why you can go to these same areas in Detroit today and experience the “blight”[2] that so desperately needs revitalizing.
However, does revitalizing mean erasing or eradicating the community residents that were there even through the toughest of times. Yes, the neighborhood may be emersed in crime but that doesn’t mean everyone there are criminals. Yes, homes there may be abandoned but everyone didn’t choose to abandon their homes. There are still people that believe in the heart of Detroit even when Detroit continues to not believe in them. Is there a win/win situation that allows homeowners in these rundown areas to befit from the influx of new capital, new ideas and ultimately newly introduced culture?
[1] The Industrial Revolution was a period of scientific and technological development in the 18th century that transformed largely rural, agrarian societies—especially in Europe and North America—into industrialized, urban ones. Goods that had once been painstakingly crafted by hand started to be produced in mass quantities by machines in factories, thanks to the introduction of new machines and techniques in textiles, iron making and other industries. (https://www.history.com/topics/industrial-revolution/industrial-revolution) [2] In referring to distressed neighborhoods described as “blight” is a question of perception. It is used to describe derogatorily and negatively depict a community when the feelings of legacy and current residents and businesses might tell you differently. In this thesis, my main goal is to deconstruct the negative perceptions of these areas and restore respect. I will quote “blight” throughout this paper to give agency and authority to my reader to define what it means to them without bias. I will do the same for the idea of “home” as it is different for individual.
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