After the 1968 riot in Detroit, which cost the lives of 33 blacks and 1,000 buildings burned, the city began a long decline. Remember, the death of Martin Luther King sparked this civil outbreak.
Residents who lived through gunfire and fires for several days decided to move out of the city. Crime escalated and those who stayed got nervous and moved taking their tax dollars with them. In many areas of Detroit it became impossible to sell a house for the mortgage and they were simply abandoned. The city took houses for unpaid real estate taxes. Businesses moved out because of the constant crime. Employees were reluctant to work in the city. The population declined from 1,850,000 in 1950 to 650,000.
There were too many vacant houses which became crime problems. Too little tax dollars to support basic services. Finally, there was bankruptcy.
There are lessons here for the leaders of the Democrat run cities suffering most from the destructive acts of violet protests now. Minneapolis is discussing disbanding the police department.
Will cooler heads prevail or will he lessons of Detroit be ignored and the mistakes repeated?
