How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood

by P.E. Moskowitz

Research by Wayne State University grad student Alex B. Hill found that 69.2 percent of the grantees of nonprofits, fellows at various nonprofits committed to revitalization, and those chosen to take part in tech and business incubators were white. Given this echo chamber, maybe it shouldn’t be surprising that the young leaders of this new Detroit are somewhat crass defenders of their cause, seemingly impervious to criticism that their newly revitalized city is also an exclusionary one. The new Detroit is unable to account for the fact that while the tide of particular sections of Detroit does indeed seem to be rising, the rest of the city continues to fall to pieces. “So many people walk in and say, ‘Oh, I guess they couldn’t find a black entrepreneur,’” said Angela Foster, a white former suburbanite and the owner of a coffee shop called Coffee and (___), located in a predominantly black neighborhood. Coffee and (___) received grants from the city to open. “It’s not a black and white thing. It’s whatever neighborhood people want to do something in. That’s it. That’s absolutely it.… I don’t see how a city this big with so much property and so much opportunity, I don’t see how anyone could be left out.… I guess I’m not buying into this conspiracy theory. You have to know where to look. Some people aren’t social creatures. So maybe those are the people being left out.”