bobjustbob
Proud member of FreeOnes Hall Of Fame. Retired to
It goes way back. Starting in the 20's there was a great migration of southern blacks to northern and midwestern cities. Here they had to compete for jobs with European immigrants for jobs. Blacks were discriminated against in housing, jobs, and by the police. The auto industry started moving the factories to the suburbs and the working population followed them there. Racial tension was building there and in 1967 there was a riot that lasted nearly a week. Buildings were burned. Stores were looted. Not only was the national guard called in but Federal troops came in with tanks to restore order. The city was in ruins.
In the 70's a gas crisis hit the US and smaller imported cars took a huge chunk out of the auto industry. For the next 40 years the city had 1/2 of it's population move out. With that goes workers, businesses, and land owners that pay taxes to fund city services. What is left are the poor and and a bunch of empty lots and abandoned buildings.
