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Will segregation end on its own?

Do you think segregation in Metro Detroit will eventually go away on its own, without the intervention of government, business or other groups?

Yes	23%	This poll has closed but your feedback is still welcome
No	76%	This poll has closed but your feedback is still welcome

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Posted: Tue. Jan. 15, 2002 at 11 :46 AM
From: Beatrice Scalise
City: New Smyrna Beach, FL
E-mail: beatricescalise
Subject: segregation_end
Comments: Haven't we had enough social experimentation by government & social do-gooders? What they have done so far hasn't worked according to plan if @ all. Some experiments have in fact backfired. Enough already.

Posted: Tue. Jan. 15, 2002 at 10 :59 AM
From: Jazzmarie
City: Detroit, MI
Subject: segregation_end
Comments: It's a sad thing to think about. It's been over 30 years and we're still stuck on the matter of segregation. But the one reason why I think that it won't end is because "and i hate to say it" but it's very expensive to live out in the suburbs or rural areas, and I think that's the trick to keeping it segregated.

Posted: Tue. Jan. 15, 2002 at 8 :01 AM
From: Tom
City: Michigan, MI
Subject: segregation_end
Comments: Most people choose to segregate themselves. However, when the goverment intervenes, it becomes worse. I was an elementary school child when the Federal Government ordered integration in Pontiac. Tell me what it solved to move me from a school in my neighborhood to a school in the middle of a housing project. Look how well it turned out for Pontiac. We tried to avoid the great white flight, but when your new neighbors throw rocks at your house and threaten you, it's time to leave.

Posted: Mon. Jan. 14, 2002 at 10:42 PM
From: Joseph St. John
City: Clinton Twp., Mi
E-mail: joestradamus@att.net
Subject: segregation_end
Comments: The auto business gave birth to segregation in Metro Detroit when they expanded their roots here in the 40's & 50's. Then the new housing boom that started just north of 8 mile in the late 50's stole all of the high-seniority white roots from the Detroit factories. We all know that they have been sprouting due-north ever since.
New black seeds were then planted in Detroit to replace the white ones that left from the factories and only major new industries in the future with interest in nice Detroit black soil can turn the key to the roto-tiller, then walk behind the moving wheels of the seed spreader.

Posted: Mon. Jan. 14, 2002 at 8:59 PM
From: K. Russell
City: Detroit, Mi
E-mail: karalarus@ameritech.net
Subject: segregation_end
Comments: No, I do not think segregation in Metro Detroit will eventually go away on its own, without the intervention of government, business or other groups. Segregation and prejudice have been quietly embedded into our everyday lives, and so has our resentment. As a Black woman living in the city of Detroit, I have experienced the stereotypes associated with being "Black" in American. When I hit the freeway to shop out in the Metro-Detroit area, I am faced daily with the lack of major retail establishments [Marshall Field's] [Papa Joe's Market] to frequent without a travel. And when I am there, I am left to feel as if I am intruding on someone elses turf. It would take for major businesses such as Neiman Marcus, Target, Marshall Field's, Papa Joes market, or even Hiller's Market just to name a few to come into the city and set-up establishment to service the community to begin to make a positive change. Many people who live in the city send "BIG" money on clothing, jewelry, appliances, and food, yet we have to drive out to Novi, Farmington, Royal Oak, Birmingham, or Troy to get our needs and wants met. Has anyone ever considered doing a survey on how much money is being sent out of the city for services and goods as oppose to what money is spent in the city?????
We are segregated because we have been taught to be segregated.........we must teach ourselves and our children to live as one with one and among one another. Currently, we see each other as different and as a threat. White flight is the threat of fear. There is crime in Detroit, but there is also crime in the Metro-Detroit areas.....Longo was not from DetroiT, neither were the kids who have been raping girls in Grosse Pointe, or the man who swallowed the diamond during a robbery. Crime is prevelent or in existence everywhere. White America needs to get real.......and stop judging "Black" Americans by the color of their skin.
K. Russell

Posted: Mon. Jan. 14, 2002 at 5:14 PM
From: Mr. M
City: River Rouge, MI
Subject: segregation_end
Comments: As long as there are people that harbor racists feelings, there is a good chance that the segregation prevalent in the Detroit area will never go away. For instance, in River Rouge and Ecorse, it remains common for people to refer to the western half of the city (the side closer to the Detroit border) as the "black side" and the eastern side as the "white side," despite the fact that blacks and whites live throughout the city.
If people really want the area to be integrated, they'll have to take the chance and do it themselves. It's easy to look toward others to make the change, but if everyone is looking, what's being done?
People with racists points of views could do us all a favor and leave. There are more than enough open-minded people around to take their places.
Government, businesses, and other groups can bring people together, but none of them can demand that people integrate outside of them. It has to be in the participants hearts to do that.

Posted: Mon. Jan. 14, 2002 at 4:20 PM
From: Bob klabadgyuh
City: Redford, mi
Subject: segregation_end
Comments: I think it will when the economy sharpens like it did during the 90's. When people are working making good money they tend to move to more expensive areas. Will racism end? Never. This is America. Racism is in our blood. We just don't go about it like we did years ago because of newly established laws. Plus we've learned somewhat that violence leads to more poverty for whoever implements it. White or Black. I hope the Detroit area can become as diverse as New York or Chicago. We've been living like this for too long. It doesn't work.

Posted: Mon. Jan. 14, 2002 at 12 :12 PM
From: Charisse L. Heath
City: Farmington Hills, MI
E-mail: cheath@dmc.org
Subject: segregation_end
Comments: I don't believe that segregation will go away on its own due to two pervasive powers: (1) Despite the warm and fuzzy words people are spouting now since 9/11, racism is alive and well. People live apart, I believe, because they have a fundamental fear and distrust of members of other races. I am an African-American woman, an attorney,and a graduate of Yale University. I also live in Farmington Hills. If you don't believe that racism is just as prevalent as always, I invite you to go shopping with me. I still have difficulty getting the attention of salespeople, but no difficulty in getting the attention of the security guards. (2) The second force to be contended with is class. I believe that much of the segregation found in Detroit is class-based. African-Americans are disproportionately undercompensated (i.e., poor). Therefore, we are not as greatly represented in Bloomfield Township as we are in Detroit. With the added pressure of racism, it makes sense that Blacks would feel more comfortable remaining in Detroit. Why subject yourself and your children to harassment by scraping together the money to move to the suburbs, when you can live undisturbed in Detroit? I don't think that it is completely accurate to say that this is segregation "by choice" but rather segregation "by default."

Posted: Mon. Jan. 14, 2002 at 9 :55 AM
From: David C
City: Detroit, MI
Subject: segregation_end
Comments: The government or other groups can't force people where to live. They have no right to that kind of power, regardless of any self-righteous reasoning they may site. Integration happens naturally, by way of choice, and no amount of rules and laws should ever change that. This is a free society, and that especially means that the government or some other organization can tell people where to live.

Posted: Mon. Jan. 14, 2002 at 9 :29 AM
From: Roger B. Dowd
City: Trenton, MI
E-mail: rogerbdowd@hotmail.com
Subject: segregation_end
Comments: Segregation will never disappear on its own. The races have ingrained fears of one another. These fears are often times unfounded but exist nevertheless. It will take laws and leaders from both races to bring about a racial harmony.

Posted: Mon. Jan. 14, 2002 at 7 :56 AM
From: John Winston
City: Warren, MI
E-mail: mapsitna@hotmail.com
Subject: segregation_end
Comments: No, at least not for a long, long time. But segregation won't end with the intervention of government and business elites. Efforts by them to force integration on people deepens racial problems. The only thing those efforts change is the way that people act outwardly in environments where they must be PC. They make honest dialog nearly impossible and drive racial tensions underground where they cannot be addressed and only create a temporary illusion of progress.

Posted: Mon. Jan. 14, 2002 at 7 :54 AM
From: Dave
City: Lakeport, Mi
Subject: segregation_end
Comments: Of course it will go away eventually but probably not for several generations. Each new generation has less prejudice than their parents and of course the distinguishing characteristics that make race will dissappear as the races blend.

Posted: Sun. Jan. 13, 2002 at 10:16 PM
From: John Kusch
City: Westland, MI
E-mail: jtkusch@yahoo.com
Subject: segregation_end
Comments: I don't think the government should force segregation. I think when they instituted forced bussing in Detroit it just caused more white flight to the suburbs.
I do think that the government should not allow any hindrance to segregation and especially if it used by the business world. A lot of money and power was made by maintaining segregation.