Why are People Afraid of Detroit?
continuing something started in KG's blog and continued at Spiral Moon....

Racism and a Culture of Fear. Growing up in the Detroit area, there wasn't a night that went by where the news didn't report about some shooting or robbery in Detroit. Every night you'd see an artist's rendition of some shady black guy in a hooded sweater. The news gave us one message, "be scared." We were all programmed from an early age to be scared of the nameless black guy. Also, whenever Detroit is used in a movie, how has it been used? Has there ever been a movie that showed the positive, cultural sides of the Motor City?

I worked in Detroit and have had friends that lived in Detroit, but still...I admittedly get a little more nervous when the nameless black guy in a hooded sweater walks towards me. I know better and I feel silly when I notice. It just takes a long time to break a lifetime of programming. Detroit's not a bad town. It just plays one on TV.