Who suffers as Detroit goes bankrupt?


Once America’s fourth-largest city, Detroit filed for bankruptcy on July 18 having lost more than half its peak population and spiraled into debt—the largest municipality in the United States ever to do so. 

Not so long ago, Detroit was the bustling embodiment of the American dream, pushing out automobiles while lifting millions into the middle class—including African Americans who had moved north for factory jobs and initially had a hard time securing them. Now they’re being hit again in a so-called hollowing-out of the black middle class as American industries automate, move factories overseas, or close altogether.

  —Tim Gihring, editor

July 19, 2013

Source: New York Times, July 18, 2013