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Mayor Duggan delivering a victory speech on primary election night. (DD photo)
On primary election night last week, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, perhaps intoxicated by his decisive victory, became momentarily blinded.
When asked by Detroit Free Press reporter Katrease Stafford about the divide between neighborhoods and downtown, he replied:
"I don't know what you are looking at. The margins you are seeing tonight are historic, it appears we carried every precinct. So again, I really don't want to talk about this narrative anymore."
Then he went off, sounding much like our president: "It's a fiction coming from you. It really is."
Well, perhaps this conversation I heard on the QLine recently may make Duggan rethink the idea that the divide is “fiction.” His primary victory was decisive ( 67 percent of the vote), but the majority support amid a turnout of about 11 percent of registered voters does not negate that some residents feel strongly that a divide exists between downtown and the neighborhoods.
The exchange I heard on the QLine was between two African American men, one who appeared to be in his late 60s, the other in his 50s.
The conversation started with the men talking about the upscale Whitney restaurant on Woodward that we were passing on the southbound streetcar. The elderly gent says that places like that are not meant for him. The younger man says he was there once; the food was great, but it cost him about $100 for a meal.
Then the streetcar passed Little Caesars Arena. (The following dialogue is verbatim, but condensed for clarity. It was recorded on an iPhone during the ride for accuracy.)
Younger man (YM): “No, I’m going in there bro.”
Older man (OM): "You may go in there, but it will definitely get you back out."
YM: "I’m talking about paying."
OM: "I mean these are all things that we pay for as city dwellers. You may get in, you may make it to the escalator, but you’re coming right back out of there."
YM: " Nope. Nope. I'm not. I’m going in and sit down...I'm going to pay my ticket."
OM: "What’s your name? I’ll be looking for your name in the news... This is not meant for you. This is not meant for you. You pay for it but you don’t go."
YM: "We have an African American hockey player on the Red Wings."
OM: "Oh yeah, and I had a two-headed nickel once, but you know, things change. This is not meant for you. None of this building down here is meant for you."
YM: "I am not going to limit myself."
OM: "The only place you can go downtown, to the City County Building, pay your taxes and get your butt back out."
YM: "Damn. I’ve been in Comerica Park so many times I can’t count... (to) see the Tigers play. Not free.. I didn’t not sneak in. I paid."
OM: "This is not here for you. You seem to be a nice man, but these places are not meant for you. You see those little bicycles (he points to the MoGo rental bikes). They are not meant for you. You need a credit card or debit card. I mean they look nice...That stuff is not meant for you. You know when you were a kid and they say 'look but don’t touch.' That’s the whole downtown."
