“On a respirator” in Detroit? We don’t need cheap shots after the Lions win.
Less than a day had passed since Detroit’s historic Sunday night victory over the Tampa Bay Bucs, when sports analysts started debating the significance of the Lions winning the NFC Championship.
The majority only discussed football. However, during his Monday morning talk show “First Take,” acclaimed ESPN broadcaster Stephen A. Smith managed to fall into the trap of disparaging Detroit.
We can no longer wait for that play to be played in the Super Bowl—it’s been over 50 years.
We believed this story was over nearly 11 years after Detroit reached its lowest point and became the biggest American city to declare bankruptcy.
For the record, Detroit is still alive and well. It has never perished. It’s also not a utopia.
His remarks made me wince, not because I support Detroit, but more because I find it shocking how falsely the city was being represented by what is likely the biggest name in sports journalism.
Whether he intended it to come off that way or not, Stephen A. took a cheap shot at a city that has endured far too many media haymakers when he declared that the Detroit Lions were the greatest story in football.
Stephen A. proposed that Detroit is being revived by the Lions. It brings to mind the time when people misunderstood to believe that our government was declaring bankruptcy—rather than the residents of Detroit.
The Detroit region’s periphery appears to be a desolate wasteland. Smith remarked, “I’m sitting here wondering how people make money.” “I’m observing it; what’s happening in that city? To see what I mean, you really must visit that location. This affects more than just football, as you can see and understand.
Hundreds of Detroiters were incensed by Stephen A.’s remarks, and on Monday they expressed their outrage on social media.
According to him, the Lions are revitalizing Detroit, not the diligent work that has been going on for a decade or more by the Duggan Administration, nonprofits, community development organizations, block clubs, and other partners. (The most recent government COVID-19 funding also didn’t harm.)
Why did he try to connect the Lions to Detroit’s comeback? Stephen A. made generalizations without providing references or local reporting. (He described Ford Field, which opened in 2002, as a “wonderful new stadium.”)
We’ve visited this place.
Although we know better than to give the Detroiters credit for our team’s victory, we are nevertheless happy of them.
This isn’t the Detroit of the 2004 NBA Championship-winning Pistons, the 2006 World Series-contending Tigers, or the 2009 Final Four-bound Michigan State team.
In addition to suffering through the auto and foreclosure crises and impending bankruptcy, that city was losing 300,000 residents over the course of ten years.
The place we wish to be is not here. We have faced several difficulties. However, we remain here.
From Darren A. Nichols, further:Ford Field and the Detroit Lions refused to comment on my experience as a disabled fan during a game.
For this reason, Detroit was listed as one of the World’s Greatest Places to Live in 2022 by Time Magazine.
There’s a balance to be struck between calling Detroit a “respirator of a city” on national television and honestly portraying our achievements and difficulties.
In actuality, Detroit is no different from certain communities found beyond Bourbon Street in New Orleans, certain areas of Atlanta, or certain areas of Memphis—the city with the worst rate of crime in the country.
However, some people still wish for us to remain in the past.
Detroit is more than just Ford Field.
Permit me to bring up a few Detroit-related points.
The next time Stephen A. is here, he should consider exploring beyond his luxurious hotel room in the downtown area. Kenneth Coleman, the local historian, would undoubtedly be willing to give a tour.
The Michigan Central Depot, our favorite ruin porn scene, has been restored and is scheduled to reopen this year. Ford Motor Company acquired the abandoned rail station in 2018.
Significant investment has accelerated in Corktown and other Southwest Detroit neighborhoods as a result of the opening.
Every neighborhood in Detroit is undergoing development. Though there are others, we usually mention Livernois Avenue of Fashion as having one of the highest concentrations of Black-owned companies in the United States.
The Detroit Food Commons structure, spanning two stories and 31,000 square feet, is scheduled to open in the North End in March. The Detroit People’s Food Co-Op, a public grocery store owned collaboratively, will be housed there.
A 13-block region is predicted to be revitalized under the Mack Avenue Corridor plan, bringing businesses, churches, and vacant property back to life.
It’s not a “look, Detroit’s got nice stuff” moment; rather, I bring these things up to bring about balance.
Shortly after making his remarks on ESPN, Douggan declared that average property values in Detroit’s residential neighborhoods had increased by 23% over the previous year, signaling yet another year of soaring values. The mayor stated that from $2.8 billion in 2017 to the current $8.7 billion, the overall value of all residential property in Detroit has increased.
From Darren A. Nichols, further:2014 saw me wait twenty-five minutes for Detroit EMS. The issue of response time persists.
“If you purchased your home fifteen years ago, and because to Detroit’s recovery, its worth has tripled, your property’s value appears extremely high in relation to your salary. That’s fortunate, according to Duggan. “That implies that Detroiters are becoming wealthier through property as well as through their professional endeavors.”
The mayor has also claimed that Detroit had seen the fewest homicides in decades in recent months. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for November 2023, the most recent month for which data is available, was 3.9%. This rate was quite close to the 3.5% national average for that month.
After compiling a list of Black-owned Detroit bars and eateries, Starex Smith, the food influencer and reviewer also known as The Hungry Black Man, planned a pub crawl during Sunday’s game. His list covers many neighborhood locations in addition to downtown establishments like Flood’s and Central Kitchen and Bar.
Club Celebrity on Plymouth near Hubbell is his favorite. Other locations were the Encore Lounge on 7 Mile close to Greenfield and Levels Bar and Grille on Harper, both of which are outside of the downtown area that Stephen A. stated is the only thing operating.
Proud of our group and our community
The Detroit Lions are comparable to the city in certain ways.
The Lions were a hopeless squad in 2021 when Brad Holmes, under Dan Campbell’s coaching, took over as general manager. They put forth a lot of effort, selected the ideal group of individuals, and hired free agents who fit their culture. It is currently yielding profits.
However, constructing sustainability takes more than three years, and reconstructing a city is a more involved process. To move Detroit ahead, cooperation is required at all levels: corporate, philanthropic, nonprofit, governmental, and community.
It’s possible Steven A. saw too many abandoned houses. However, he is unaware that there used to be 80,000 unoccupied and abandoned parcels. Although there are still dim areas, prior to the establishment of the Public Lighting Authority, 40,000 lights were out. Even while there are still places with decay and underinvestment, fresh money and energy are starting to flow in.
Those were actual issues that had a significant everyday impact on lives.
Because of this, Stephen A. should probably stay in his comfort zone and focus on athletics rather than the complexities of big city reconstruction.
It all comes down to perspective.
The plot revolves around the unlikely run for the Super Bowl by the Detroit Lions. That’s where we should stop.
Any further discussion is only television filibustering.
