WXYZ on the Detroit Riots 50 years later

Today is the 50th anniversary of the Detroit Riot of 1967, a day I knew I'd blog about ever since I first mentioned the riot six years ago.  That day has now arrived.*  Since I was not living here at the time (I was a seven-year-old in Los Angeles then), I'll defer to the locals, especially my favorite local news source on YouTube, WXYZ.  I begin with Detroiters revisit drama of 1967 riots through bus tour, which returns to ground zero of the riot and recounts the story of how it began and spread.

As we approach the 50th anniversary of the Detroit 1967 riots, we take a look at how Detroiters are revisiting the drama of the riots on a historic bus tour through the city.

WXYZ summarized the effects of the unrest in Detroit 1967: The riots by the numbers.


Wow.  All that is the immediate effect of the riots.  Follow over the jump for what happened over the next 50 years.

The next video I'm sharing reported 1967 Detroit riots had profound impact on arts, including music and Motown.



One of the more insidious effects in the coming years was White Flight after the 1967 Detroit riots.


This is one aspect of the rise of suburbia that "The End of Suburbia" completely ignored, as I wrote in Kunstler said Americans would elect maniacs.

The one thing missing from "The End of Suburbia" was any discussion of White Flight; the movement to the suburbs was all phrased in class terms, not racial ones.  That's something my students from Detroit and its suburbs notice.

It's one of the many reasons I am no longer showing the film to my students, replacing it with Treasures of the Earth: Power, which I'm showing to my students this week for the first time.  I'll report on how that went late this week or early the next.

Another observation I have about the clip is that White Flight is reversing.  I consider this a good thing; I'm not opposed to gentrification.

Unfortunately, the people fleeing Detroit brought their attitudes with them and have taught them to their children, which WXYZ documented in Looking forward to 50 years after the 1967 riots and racism is growing.


Ugh.  Yuck.  I think this is evil and unnecessary.  The election of Trump has made it worse, as it has emboldened the bigots.  Worse yet, this is happening only a few miles from me; I live in the same school district.

For something more positive and hopeful, Detroit Future City looks forward to a future 100 years after the 1967 riots.


Now, that's the kind of future I can get behind.

WXYZ has one last video, Commemorating the anniversary of the Detroit 1967 riots.


I won't be there; I'll be correcting papers.  However, I might watch "12th and Clairmount" in the comfort of my own living room.  If so, I'll report on it.  Even if I don't, I'm hoping it's nominated for Best Feature Length Documentary at the Academy Awards next January.

*Normally, I'd post an entertainment feature for Sunday.  Not today -- this anniversary is far too important.  I'll post about fun stuff tomorrow.