The following three topics cover the social and human dimensions of inner-city Detroit. The topics are education; gangs, guns, and drugs; the fabric and structure of the black household (absent father).

These three topics are about understanding what it is to live and grow up in an environment that is inner-city Detroit. This is an alien environment for most of us. It is not an environment we would ever want to live in or imagine our children growing up in. For these reasons, it is even more critical for the rest of us to understand the circumstances that our fellow Americans cope with every day.

The state of public education in Detroit is a national disgrace. This 1-hour 45-minute documentary is a must-watch if you want to know why the youth in Detroit are unemployable and have limited options for integrating into "normal" American life and why they choose a life of drugs and violence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xypiZ-hqdY

The chart posted below summarizes what happened to Detroit.

The Republican mayors Alberto Conor and Mirani and the Democratic mayors Dennis Archer and Kilpatrick are the main "culprits" in this saga. Both sets of mayors, 60 years apart, burdened Detroit with debt but for very different reasons.

Mayors Cobo and Miriani took on debt to build highways and urban renewal ( also referred to as black removal) when Detroit was the equivalent of Silicon Valley. Dennis Archer took on debt because he was the mayor during president Clinton's boom years and thought good times would never end. Mayor Kilpatrick was the one who doomed Detroit with the help of Wall Street ( yes, Wall Street). Wall Street in the 2000s was creating and selling complex financial instruments (remember CDOs) to city mayors. Kilpatrick used these products to take on $9 Billion in debt to fund expenses. By 2013 Detroit had to default on its debt obligation. And Detroit declared bankruptcy.

A perspective, we forget Detroit was once the "Silicon Valley" of America and the envy of the world. That spirit permeated the psyche of Detroit for almost a century. Even when Detroit's fortunes were headed south, the city leaders believed in the invincibility of Detroit. There was a "can do" spirit. The leaders refused to face reality even when the city was falling apart. Of course, there was corruption and cronyism, but that was no different than in any other city, state, or federal government.