Undivided
New/Old Detroit, one year later.
A year ago, I wrote an essay addressing the inequalities Detroit was dealing with, and how its progression of rising from the proverbial ashes was uneven as a result. It angered a lot of Detroiters, but it made just as many want to have an honest discussion. I was happy to see an essay affecting so many people.
At the invitation of the Detroit Free Press, I began to write an outline for a third installation of the “New/Old Detroit” series about two months ago. But because of promotions and TEDx talks by a fellow writer, I held off on releasing anything. I didn’t want to disrupt a healthy conversation by starting my own again.
Shortly afterwards, I visited the website of a department store. It featured one word for a new product release: UNDIVIDED, which showed two different brands working together as one. They had very different identities and business practices but were choosing to occupy the same space. By working together, they realized a greater potential than they ever could have alone.
We are the same way in our city now, different identities blending together and mixing old and new ideas, different racial backgrounds, customs, incomes, and visions for the future. While a more homogeneous version of one or the other could determine what Detroit will look like several years down the line, its best outcome is one that embraces everything and lets it meld together.
This will forge a new identity that is the best of all of us.
I remember a city like this when I was young. In Houston, there are a variety of immigrants, natural-born citizens, cultural identities and income and education backgrounds. There were rich and poor alike, with an expansive amount of space within Houston’s borders just like Detroit’s. Because there is room for everyone to live and work there, Houston has become a city where everyone has a chance to prosper.
I believe in Detroit’s ability to do the same, if not more. If we want to be our strongest, we must allocate space and opportunity for everyone.
New/Old Detroit isn’t a problem of the past just because we held a few public panels about it. It’s an issue that’s going to rear its ugly head whenever someone doesn’t consider where their fellow Detroiter is coming from. It surfaces when the number of unemployment centers are shut down in up-and-coming neighborhoods, when we hold Food Week while soup kitchens become more and more crowded, and when the faces of people seeking public aid become more diverse.
We can fight this problem by calling it out and facing it head-on and not letting the tradition of Midwest Niceness get in the way of setting things right. Complicit silence in the face of injustice breeds toxic environments, and then we sit and scratch our heads while we watch friends and neighbors pack up and move away. Reviving Detroit takes more than money and brand-new buildings. We need to care about one another and stop abuse and intolerance when we see it.
I dream of a city that is diverse and inclusive, is aware of how much square footage it has, and knows it contains enough room for everyone to live there. I dream of a city that welcomes those who seek a life of luxury in exchange for hard work, as well as those who can’t afford it or want a simpler lifestyle.
I dream of a city that has citizens who know “different” is not the same as ‘bad”. They understand our community is precious, that everyone is important, and the actions of a few meetings and movements and public discussions can have large enough ripples to shape our destiny.
I dream of a city that cares to keep its parks open. To keep its schools open. To fire officials whose departments are failing the children they were hired to serve, and replace them with more competent employees. I dream of a city where those same officials are willing to send their children to a school in the inner city, rather than the suburbs, because they believe in the effectiveness of their jobs and the schools they’re trying to keep open.
And I dream of a city where we welcome new neighbors and work together to keep neglect away, especially from streets that are the poorest and most vulnerable. Where we have sufficient public transportation, because we understand not everyone has a car or would even want to own one.
I dream of a city that’s cheered on by the world — because it already is. And when we say we’re from Detroit, we can hold our heads high. Not just for our famous past, but because we managed to overcome racism, classism, and overall division to embrace a better and united future.
This is the dream I have, and I hope it’s yours too. We’ve come so far in just a year’s time. We’re beginning to change Detroit’s future, but we need to keep fighting in order to secure it.