“Reclaiming” Detroit by Kaeleigh Herstad was quite a gripping expose on potential damages that urban renewal and gentrification can have to history and the legacy of the people inhabitating the area. Most of us are familiar with the state of urban decay that has been ongoing in Detroit for decades, and arguably for the better part of the last century. Efforts are being made by city officials and representatives of private interest groups to destroy and rebuild the numerous blighted districts of Detroit. Consequently, entire blocks of historic neighborhoods and business are being leveled and reconstructed. Herstad argues that while the motivations of these officials is for ‘the greater good’ and to create progress and make the city more affluent, the legacy and ‘proof’ of the true heritage of the city are being destroyed piece by piece. At its core, Herstad argued that issues of racism are at play and acting in force with the removal of the ‘blight’ afflicting Detroit. Therefore, while actively rebuilding and renovating the area might improve quality of life, it may also be making the elements that made the blight come into place in the first place obscured and less likely to be dealt with in the future. The issues of racism and how it affects discrepancies in income and education are argued to be one of the primary sources of the problem, and with the destruction of that legacy, it is likely a problem to persist and occur again in some years.
A blog for St. Mary’s University Public History Graduate Students
