Inequality, violence inspire this weekend’s march up Woodward

Perhaps no city in the country better illustrates the debilitating fallout of racial inequality than Detroit.

While whites prospered during the heyday of the auto industry, black people were confined to dilapidated neighborhoods, substandard schools and low-paying jobs.

More than a half century later, life hasn’t gotten much better for many black Detroiters.

To shed light on this glaring divide between the haves and the have nots, hundreds – if not thousands – of people will march up Woodward from Highland Park to 8 Mile on Saturday afternoon.

But the march is about more than race. Spotlighting classism, intolerance, crime and failing schools also inspired the Crusade for America Parent and Youth March, which was organized by Rainbow PUSH Detroit, a civil rights group.

Jeremy Williams, of Detroit, said he plans to march because he’s tired of what he describes as a growingly apathetic community.

“We need to fight the complacency and lack of passion,” Williams, 34, said. “You have generations that just don’t care about their lot in life. It’s frustrating and sad.”

The march begins at noon at McGregor Library, 1224 Woodward, in Highland Park and ends near 8 Mile.

Everyone is invited to participate.

Follow Rainbow Push Detroit on Facebook.

Steve Neavling is an award-winning investigative journalist and former Detroit Free Press reporter. 

  civil rights, Classism, Crusade for America, detroit, Inequality, March, racism, Rainbow Push, steve

Steve Neavling

Steve Neavling lives and works in Detroit as an investigative journalist. His stories have uncovered corruption, led to arrests and reforms and prompted FBI investigations.

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