Behind The Bullet-Proof Glass At A Detroit Gas Station

The mood changes drastically after sundown at a Detroit gas station.

During the day, customers greeted owner Frank Dabaja, who has run the station for 28 years, with a hug. One teased him about his glasses.

At night, the mood turned somber.

Dabaja was gone and so were the middle-aged and elderly customers. They were replaced by a younger, surlier crowd. Racial resentment hung in the air.

Many gas stations in Detroit are owned by Lebanese-Americans. Many food and liquor stores are owned by Chaldeans, who are Catholics from Iraq, said a trade group. Virtually all the customers are black.

And those are the two communities separated by the bullet-proof glass.