Detroit is due an extreme makeover; no one wants it, but it is a must. The only question is what will the makeover look like?
By the end of February, the commission appointed to make the decision on behalf of the governor of the state of Michigan will make their report, if not before. The state can’t recommend a white person from outside Detroit be given the power to void city contracts and sell city property. That just will not fly. I can’t imagine the protest and demonstrations that will follow. Detroit will be back to Vietnam-type protests if a person of the majority race takes over the largest city in the state of Michigan and casts out the elected officials and overturns 40 years of history.
It will not do for a black person outside of Detroit to come and offer the same poison. Poison is deadly, no matter if the hand that feeds it to you is black or white. But something’s got to happen and soon. The city is broke because the tax base left when the first black mayor was elected and the world economy is suffering.
Extreme conditions call for extreme action. Mayor Dave Bing was elected because Detroit had an extreme condition at the time and this moment in time is no better.
New York was in this condition in 1970, but no one came in and became “God almighty.” The state gave direction and aid. Is that possible for Detroit? Or is that too extreme?
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