Race and Community: Detroit
Sherrell D. Randolph Jr.
University of Phoenix-Axia
February 22, 2009
I am an African-American living in Detroit, Michigan. This paper will provide an overview of my experiences within my community and focus on ethnicity and the way race and ethnicity has shaped my own personal life view, as well the way I am perceived by others. I will discuss what I remember of my childhood, and what I don’t remember but was reminded of by relatives, and how I could not wait to get older. I will relate the way my parents, grandparent, and other relatives helped shape my world view using the different experiences and different ways with dealing with life’s challenges.
Detroit’s resident come from many countries, practice many different religions, eat many different foods, and have shared all of these differences, and their many customs with all residents of the city. Detroit has a Mexican Town neighborhood, a Greek neighborhood, an Arabic neighborhood and many regions where certain ethnic groups have grown businesses and opened wonderful restaurants. The city’s residents themselves come from widely diverse ethnic and racial groups yet all live well together most of the time, proud of their individual heritage and proud of their lives as Detroit, Michigan residents, As of the 200 census the city of Detroit had the following racial and ethnic residents: African American, 81.6%; Caucasian, 12.3%; Latino, 5.0%; Asian, 1.0% and Native American at 0.3%. In the comparison to Michigan, whose population breakdown in the year 200 was, respectively, 14.2% for African American, 80.2% for Caucasian, 3.3% for Latino, 1.8% for Asians and 0.6% for Native American. The numbers you can see how much more diverse the city of Detroit is then the rest of Michigan, which may be one of the many reasons why so many festivals and so many business and entertainment opportunities take place here instead of elsewhere in Michigan....