If Obama had a city, it would look like Detroit!

(This just in: Bill Nojay writes in today's Wall Street Journal about his 8-mo. stint at the chief operating officer of the Detroit Dept. of Transportation. Almost daily, he found problems arising along with solutions but implementing them in Detroit was IMPOSSIBLE. You must read this first hand account of how this dysfunctional city is being run.)
Obama has said, “If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon Martin.” And, if Obama had a city, it would look like Detroit. In fact, Detroit is the poster-child and metaphor for what thieves and parasites can do to destroy a great American city. Detroit is our modern day "Mad Max"-- a reflection of where Obama and the Democrat party want to take America

In 1961, the last Republican mayor left office. Detroit has been run by Democrats on an unbroken streak for the past 52 yrs. In 2009 Detroit Public School students had the lowest scores ever recorded in the national math proficiency test over a 21-year history. Only 1.8 percent of students were considered capable of doing college level work. Corruption is rampant, Detroit has been voted the most dangerous city in America. 34.5 percent are on food stamps. Out-of-wedlock birthrate is 75 percent. Yet the city doubles down on Democrat policies and politicians. In a city of 700,000, only 6000 voted for the Republican presidential candidate! 98% voted Democrat! Detroit is a prime example of “getting the government you vote for.”

According to Zev Chafet's book, "Devil's Night: and Other True Tales of Detroit" (this book is about to be re-published thanks to overwhelming demand in recent days)--it's not just liberalism that reduced Detroit to rubble; it was race and racism.

In the early 1960s, the city was segregated along racial lines with blacks squeezed into small neighborhoods. Racial tensions mounted erupting into the Detroit Riots of 1967 which prompted a mass exodus of whites from Detroit, abandoning Detroit for the suburbs and moving into homes that were unfinished with no electricity or water. They couldn’t get out of “Motor City: fast enough.

Coleman Young, mayor of Detroit for 20 yrs.

In 1973, the majority black population elected Coleman Young, a black, radical leftist who did not believe in turning the other cheek. He accused whites of trying to control Detroit from outside the city. During his 20-year reign, Mr. Coleman ignored crime, inflamed racial tensions and built a patronage machine" He went to war with the city’s major institutions and then sought help from the government in the form of subsidies. As Detroit’s government became less and less effective, even middle-class blacks fled the city.

Mayor Young divided Detroit according to race, creating separate layoff lists for white and black officers. He and his handpicked police chief made it clear to the officers that too many tickets and too many arrests were being made in the black community (much as Obama is charging today). One black officer confided to a journalist, “I wouldn’t write tickets for black kids.”

Detroit--once, a shining jewel of a city

Meanwhile, the increasingly distressed city became a fiscal ward of the state and federal governments. As Ms. Jacoby wrote, by the late 1970s federal grants paid the salaries of up to one-third of Detroit's workforce.

As history shows, sending more cash to Detroit won't fix its breakdown in self-government. Another bailout would merely support its toxic political culture of neglect and corruption.

In closing, there are some wonderful, dedicated Christian groups working to bring hope and restoration to Detroit. In various parts of the city, there are some encouraging signs of renewal, thanks to the prayers and tireless efforts of a number of faithful Christian believers. 

However, here’s my parting thought: Detroit needs more than just a handout, or even an urban renewal campaign. Detroit needs an honest-to-goodness REVIVAL that starts with repentance (a change in thinking, behavior, a radical 180-degree turn in another direction). It would be awesome if some esteemed black evangelist (are there any?) who truly preaches the Word of God would come to Detroit and have a month-long campaign, nightly calling the people of Detroit to repent and get right with God and their fellow man. The black residents of Detroit need to repent for the racist attitudes toward the white man, and especially their hatred for those who are white, conservative Republicans. The black community needs to repent of their victimization mindset and start taking responsibility for themselves and their families. I would also hope that the evangelistic campaign in the heart of Detroit would also draw whites from the surrounding communities who repent as well for their racist attitudes and bigotry and lack of love or concern for their black neighbor.

If there is true repentance, maybe then, there can be hope for change (sounds like an Obama campaign slogan) along with solid teaching from the Word of God on loving God, loving your neighbor, on the Good Samaritan, righteousness and walking uprightly, hating evil and loving that which is good—then maybe, Detroit can be reborn from the ashes of hopelessness and despair