Interesting concept?

[sfga6970]

This could lead to some interesting discussions.

Detroit 'African Town' Plan Stirs Debate

Sun Oct 10, 1:54 PM ET



By SARAH KARUSH, Associated Press Writer

DETROIT - Detroit has a Greektown section that tempts visitors with moussaka and baklava, and a Mexicantown neighborhood with Latin American groceries and restaurants. Now, politicians are pushing for a business district identified with the city's biggest minority group — blacks.


AP Photo


The plan, dubbed "African Town" by some proponents, has stirred fervent opposition, in part because the new district would be established using taxpayer money that would be available only to black business owners.



A majority on the City Council has endorsed its basic tenets. But the plan is unlikely to become a reality. The mayor is against it, and many community leaders say the very notion undermines the city's efforts to promote economic revitalization through regional cooperation.



The plan was drafted by Claud Anderson, author of a popular book on black economic empowerment. The former Detroit resident was paid $112,000 for the City Council-commissioned report and says he could be involved as a developer in the projects he proposes.



Anderson's 2001 book "PowerNomics: The National Plan to Empower Black America" spent more than two years on the best-seller list of Essence magazine, which tracks sales at black-owned bookstores.



Under his proposal, the city would dispense grants and low-interest loans to blacks only, using a $30 million minority business-development fund that Detroit's casinos agreed to pay into long before the African Town idea ever surfaced.



Anderson says the new district would include such things as a fish processing plant, a black beauty-supply store, and soul food and Caribbean restaurants.



He does not use the term "African Town." He says he is concerned only with the plight of "native black Americans," or descendants of slaves. In fact, he says immigrants have taken resources away from black Detroit residents and contributed to black poverty.



Late last month, a few dozen people led by Hispanic and Asian community groups protested in front of City Hall, demanding an apology from the council.



A spokesman for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Howard Hughey, said the mayor, who is black, supports the concept of an "African Town" but believes it would be wrong to use public money in a way that would benefit only blacks.



The City Council, on the other hand, already has passed two related resolutions that are part of Anderson's plan, with seven out of nine council members voting in favor. The first resolution declared blacks Detroit's "majority minority," and the other resolved to create a development agency to administer the loans and grants.



Detroit, with a population of just under 1 million, is more than 80 percent black after a decades-long white exodus that was driven in part by racial tensions, including the 1967 riots.



Many Detroit residents still mourn the loss of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley, vibrant black business-and-entertainment districts that were leveled to make room for Interstate 75 and other projects in the 1950s.



According to the 2000 census, 26 percent of Detroit residents lived below the poverty line. Unemployment in the city has averaged 14 percent this year, about double the statewide rate.



"Nobody's addressing those issues. They keep pretending that somehow if they ignore the problem it will go away," Anderson said in a telephone interview from his office in Bethesda, Md.



Kay Everett, one of the two council members to vote against the resolutions, said Anderson's plan is "reverse racism."



"This money belongs to everyone. It doesn't belong to one race. We cannot be race specific — it's also illegal," said Everett, who is black. "What if you came up with a white town?"







JoAnn Watson, the plan's main proponent on the City Council, denied the African Town idea is anti-immigrant or promotes racial separatism. "African Town is proposed as a cultural and economic vehicle ... which can attract and serve all citizens," she said. Anderson said he was not surprised by the controversy his plan has evoked. Detroit leaders, he said, "are hiding behind a colorblind, race-neutral myth and using it as an excuse to do nothing for the underserved, black population."

[AndJusticeForAll]

When does "Whitey Town" open?

And what will be on the menu?

Racism with a side order of intolerance?

LOL!!

[cb88]

Originally Posted by AndJusticeForAll

When does "Whitey Town" open?

Heck, AJFA, we could build that good...a few of them thair mobile homes, let the grass overgrow in the medians, a few non working cars....

And what will be on the menu?

Deer Steak, fried catfish, wild game, lots & lots of starch!

Racism with a side order of intolerance?

LOL!!

You joke, but by all of these "minorities" being served, there is a tad bit of reverse racism going on in this country now. Everyone is entitled to special help, everyone but the white anglosaxxon. It's almost a crime to be a "cracker" nowadays.

[sfga6970]

Originally Posted by AndJusticeForAll

When does "Whitey Town" open?

And what will be on the menu?

Racism with a side order of intolerance?

LOL!!

I was thinking more along the line of "Honkey Town" or "Redneck Village" featuring trailers, pick-ups and hound dogs.

[JohnRN]

Originally Posted by sfga6970

Kay Everett, one of the two council members to vote against the resolutions, said Anderson's plan is "reverse racism."

"This money belongs to everyone. It doesn't belong to one race. We cannot be race specific — it's also illegal," said Everett, who is black. "What if you came up with a white town?"

'Nuff said.

[AT3Weins]

Originally Posted by sfga6970

This could lead to some interesting discussions.

Detroit 'African Town' Plan Stirs Debate

Sun Oct 10, 1:54 PM ET



By SARAH KARUSH, Associated Press Writer

DETROIT - Detroit has a Greektown section that tempts visitors with moussaka and baklava, and a Mexicantown neighborhood with Latin American groceries and restaurants. Now, politicians are pushing for a business district identified with the city's biggest minority group — blacks.

How were these 'towns' funded? If they used

Under his proposal, the city would dispense grants and low-interest loans to blacks only, using a $30 million minority business-development fund that Detroit's casinos agreed to pay into long before the African Town idea ever surfaced.

Then they are just as illegal as the "African Town" is.

The black population is no longer a minority in Detroit. So why should they be getting special treatment? Hell why should any race that isn't white get special treatment?

African town, mexicantown, and Greektown should all be illegal as it is reverse racism. Like AJFA said, where's White boys town?

[sfga6970]

Originally Posted by AT3Weins

[/font]

How were these 'towns' funded? If they used Then they are just as illegal as the "African Town" is.

The black population is no longer a minority in Detroit. So why should they be getting special treatment? Hell why should any race that isn't white get special treatment?

African town, mexicantown, and Greektown should all be illegal as it is reverse racism. Like AJFA said, where's White boys town?

I agree that it should not be specially funded. I live in NY and we have many areas that are described by the predominant race or nationality within the area. Chinatown and Little Italy are prime examples. But these sections were developed by immigrants through their own sweat and toil. They preferred to live near people of their own ethnicity in order to share their language and familiar foods and customs.

The City didn't pay for the development of these areas, they were built by shopkeepers and small businesses that grew as the population increased and more people wanted to learn about the cuisine and customs of the varied population. This proposal seems more like a welfare giveaway and won't prompt people to work harder, just have more of them holding their hands out looking for a check.