Detroit Essay

Detroit, once the New York City of its time, nick named the “Motor City” as it contained one of the leading car manufacturing centers of the automobile industry. As a metropolis for the first half of the twentieth century, Post World War II, Detroit became an economic fortress and focal point in American History. Detroit’s economic stronghold placed the city in a position that was once beneficial. From the surging employment opportunities perpetuated by the booming automotive market to the development, and implementation of substandard housing and the casual labor market, Detroit became the land of opportunity that loomed with an air of new beginnings. Today, however, Detroit continues to reap the aftermath of contradictory political and economic delegation of the post WWII era. As America continues to relish in the economic rewards of this era the inverse effects of inadequate political decision making continues to resonate amongst the urban streets of Detroit today.
Thomas Sugrue’s, The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and inequality in postwar Detroit, views Detroit as a dialectical city with history as it synthesis. The political and economic history of the United States prior to and post WWII had a substantial impact on the social development in Detroit, this is antithesis of the dialectic. The incongruent government policy enforced on behalf of the “New Deal Coalition” presented between 1930 and 1960 offered the notion of change with promises to protect the economic welfare of U.S. citizens. However, the New Deal Coalition did the exact opposite while further cementing racial segregation throughout the U.S., more specifically in Detroit. The imprecise content of the New Deal did not set parameters, which in return opened opportunity for inappropriate government decisions to be enforced. The decisions made under the Roosevelt administration through the New Deal lead to the destruction of a city as well as a race of people. It began with promises

Cited: Thomas J. Sugrue. The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and inequality in postwar Detroit. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2005. Alford A. Young, Jr. The Minds of Marginalized Black Men: Making Sense of Mobility, Opportunity and Future Life Chances. N/A: 2004 Robert Weaver. The Effect of Anti-Discrimination Legislation Upon the FHA and VA Insured Housing Market in NY. Dictionary.com - Definition of Symbolic Capital.