MOTOR CITY: In 1950, Detroit was the 5th most populous city in the United States with a population of 1,849,568. These days it has a population of about 632,464, making it the 27th most populous. And it is apparently hellbent on shrinking more.
The news out of Detroit is that 63% of its residents support reparations for slavery. Or to put the matter more precisely, a survey shows 63% support reparations to “counter the lasting impacts of slavery and discriminatory policies.” Interestingly, the higher a respondent’s level of education, the more likely he or she would support reparations.
Not surprisingly, support was higher among African Americans (72%) than it was among whites (38%) or Latinos (27%). But since Detroit’s population is 77% African American and only 10% white and 8% Latino, a solid majority of residents favor reparations.
The survey comes after a successful effort in 2021 (Proposal R) to call for a reparations task force to make recommendations for a reparations program by the City of Detroit. The task force is at work now.
I can’t think of a more effective way to shrink the Detroit tax base still further. Why would anyone who pays taxes to the City of Detroit, other than those who hope to be on the receiving end of the project, want to stick around? No doubt, even now, many are deciding to get out while the getting’s good.
There are, of course, other reasons to oppose the push for slavery reparations. We’ve got to start talking about those reasons. You might be surprised at how quickly a wrongheaded policy idea can become a train rolling downgrade.