(pics from the 2001 AutoShow).  Detroit as a city is hard to define.  It's well known but at the same time misunderstood.  First, let me clear up some stuff.  We're known for crime but it's not like you have to walk down the street with a BULLETPROOF VEST.  You got your bad neighborhoods and you got your good ones.  Like any other major city.  But it's not just dangerous where you have to think about DYING everyday.   It's like somebody told me about L.A.   Every neighborhood is not Blood or Crip controlled.  It's just certain sections.

Now as far as the people, this is a "Black city".  Outside of Atlanta, I think it has the largest Black pop. in this country.  There are other races like White, Asian and  Hispanic.   And there's alot racial tension between the groups as well (which we will discuss soon).  Whites basically during the 60's did the "urban flight".  That's basically when White people left the inner city because they fear blacks moving in their hood.  My parents seen this first hand.  They were the first Black couple in a all white hood.  The people were cool at first.  But when another Black couple moved in the Whites left.  This phenomena was seen throughout Detroit.
 

As far as economically, many of you know us as the Motor City.  Detroit played a big part in the growth of the automobile industry.  Henry Ford popularized the assembly line idea which made it really blow up.  You remember previously I talk about the large pop. of African Americans (I hate that term Afr. Amer.  But anyway).  Alot of that is due in part with Ford recruiting many Blacks from the South to work in tha plant.  Ford even went as far as getting buses and bringing Blacks to work up North.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing this to slavery.  But in the same sense, white people couldn't handle the hot temp. of plants.  Same thing with slavery.  Once again, it's not same thing but I hope you get my point.

Well, nxt time I'm going to get a little bit into the rise and fall of Detroit as a city and the plans our mayor is doing to rebuild it.  This is no longer a the "motor city".  What is it.  Find out nxt time.