Sugrue begins his time on the mic by telling a story that is familiar to most. He weaves a story about a neighborhood on the Westside that was once lined with well-kept bungalows tended by Irish immigrants, such as his own grandparents. However, this microcosm of Detroit, located between Santa Rosa and Chalfonte, is now lined with empty lots and vacant homes. Current residents, the majority of whom are African-American, could be categorized in two groups; young black males who are frustrated with the lack of employment options or older seniors who meticulously maintain what is left of the neighborhood and wonder why those young boys don’t pull up their pants.
So, what happened to this neighborhood? According to Sugrue, the answer is not a simple as we would like to think.
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