I have lived in Michigan for the better part of 24 years with most of that time spent as a journalist and government official. And it has never ceased to amaze me how every well publicized incident of black on white crime that occurs in Detroit somehow manages to be turned in to a damn near international incident and an indictment on the nearly 1 million people who live within its borders. If the tragic and senseless assault on Steven Utash was reflective of a certain culture within the city, then so was the effort to help him and the 10-year-old boy he accidently ran over with his truck. Yet, so many commentators; so eager to illuminate the pathologies that give rise to such irrational acts of violence in the city, seldom take the time to look beyond the popular narrative that tends to reduce an entire population of people to malicious cultural stereotypes based solely upon the actions of a very few. There is no doubt that the racial tension in all of Michigan is so thick you can cut it with not a knife, but a chainsaw. The hyper-segregation, vicious polarizing politics and relentlessly mean-spirited legislation and public policy pouring out from both the state legislature and Michigan Supreme Court has created a seemingly endless mean season for the poor. Most of whom in this state tend to be urban, female, black and working class. All of whom not so coincidently, comprise the majority of Detroits population. So there are very many angry people out here. Yet, after living in metro Detroit longer than anywhere else in my entire life, what I have always found most remarkable about Detroiters is that in spite of the daily assaults from both within and outside the city on their intelligence, integrity, pride, community, sense of independence and self-worth, they continue to show a resilience, vitality and creativity that has allowed hope to flourish even among the bleakest of circumstances. It is as if the Nigerian poet Ben Okiri was thinking of them when he wrote: The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering. My prayers go out to Steven Utash, his family and that of the 10-year-old injured boy and his family. I also readily acknowledge that Detroit has some very serious challenges that lie ahead. Yet, I will always maintain my faith in Detroiters; a people who have shown our nation the ability to rise every morning to meet seemingly insurmountable challenges with grace, fortitude and an enduring hope that tomorrow can be and will be, a better day.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 03:10:05 +0000
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