Honors Study Guide
1.) Analyze the political climate, issues, and stakeholders in the Cobo/Edwards mayoral election campaign of 1949. Relate this election to the specific outcomes in the city of Detroit over the next decade and detail what you see as the lasting effects today. Edwards backed by auto union, supposed to win because he was black and pro public housing. Cobo won the election, even though he was white and for private housing. Edwards took side with the Brewster housing projects, declaring that he backed public housing policy and that he had the back of the black people. Cobo took 60% of the votes. Black Bottom appeared, where there was a terrible segregation of white middle class and poor blacks. Pg 163 Martelle
2.) By the 1980s (if not earlier), one could argue that Detroit as a city had collapsed economically and socially and those problems remained until its current bankruptcy. What are the 3 biggest events/people/ideas/problems that contributed to Detroit’s collapse? Suburbanization, or creation of suburbia; people moving out of the city and into surrounding areas.

3.) Contrast the European, or Old World, relationship a person had with the “city” with the American one, specifically with respect to the choices regarding its functionality
—that is, of “beauty” or “profit.” Next, what does your analysis suggest about what Americans prioritize, as evidenced in our typologies. City Profitable - Functionality = Rybczynski. City turned from a place to live into a machine, hence functionality. Not meant for living, more for products to be made and mostly for the designer people. City beautiful – attractive to citizens, lots of history, cosmic gridline, place to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee.

4.) Describe Cadillac’s “way of seeing” the new world. In other words, “who is he” and “where is he going” as a precursor to how the design/layout of American cities reflects values outlined in the Declaration of Independence, while considering the discussion regarding the importance of space and mobility in American culture. Do you think there is a connection between Dean Herron’s narrative and these cultural values/attitudes/behaviors? Lecture 9/15. Democratic Social Space = Fischer

5.) Despite Detroit’s current problems, many believe the city shows promise for recovery. Based on readings and lecture materials from the last few weeks of class, identify and evaluate the potential of at least three trends or ideas that you think might help the city improve. Movement of young people aged 18-24 back into the city. This causes more racial diversity, since most of the people moving in are whites. Creation of urban agriculture. People farming in the city

6.) Freeways are a signature feature of the landscape of post-World War II America. This is especially true in Detroit. What ways of seeing are manifested in Detroit’s freeways? What were the consequences (pro and con) of the construction of Detroit’s freeways? Lecture 10/27. Getting to Northland. City peripheral, where people live in the suburbs now and work in the city. Connects people, allows people to more easily get here, opening doors so peole can more easily get to the city. Cons: Destroyed historical houses and buildings. Encouraged people to leave the city; whoever could leave, left (white middle class). Chose Charlie Chaplin view, where we live in the present. Creation of city profitable rather than city beautiful. 1950s mark the end of the traditional concentrated city, people start to move out.

7.) Given that “We’re All Immigrants,” discuss “American” city with respect to the democratization of culture, consumerism, capitalism and/or individualism. Include in your answer a brief assessment of the effects of this process on the American psyche (in the abstract) as well as routinely (in real-life). Lecture 4 9/29.
8.) How and why were modern American suburbs built? Who lived there, and why did they move? Do these suburbs represent a triumph of democratic social space, or a symbol of racial injustice? People wanted to live with their own kind. Racial injustice. Moving away from people that are not like them (black, etc…)

9.) How are American cities different from Paris? In what ways is Detroit an American city? Cite specific features of Detroit's urban form to justify your answer. Lecture 1 “Why not Paris?” They are different because w ehave the Jeffersonian grid system. Anything that happens to America, Detroit is the result. When America went to war, Detroit stepped up. We brought a new way of seeing here with us.

10.) Many Detroiters moved to the suburbs starting in the 1950s, and this relates to themes in Ursula Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” and Henry Ford’s statement "The city is doomed . . . We shall solve the city problem by leaving the city." Evaluate the argument fromboth sides, for staying or walking away. From the political standpoint, people should stay in the city and try to fix the issues that are going on at the present time. When people start to leave, others are left behind and people do not benefit from this at all. There is a loss of tax base and people are generally screwed.

11.) One of the major themes of this class is the importance and uses of history. Ragtime is notable for its author’s mixing of real historical figures and fictional characters, as well as its multiple story lines and shifting points of view. What is the author saying about the importance and uses of history? How does that relate to the various ways of seeing history that we discussed in class. Provide examples to support your answer. Doctorow uses multiple perspectives to represent history unless we hear everyone’s story, and take the story from their perspective. It is impossible to fully understand

12.) President Johnson put together the National Advisory Commission on Civil Dis orders (commonly known as the Kerner Commission) after the civil unrest taking place in the U.S. from in ’67-68. This group was charged with unpacking the causes of the ‘67-68 unrest in the U.S. and recommending measures to prevent its reoccurrence. If you were to write a Kerner-style report about the causes and implications of the Detroit unrest during that period time, how would it be BOTH similar and different to the current report? Keep in mind that such a report should do three things: 1) establish an understanding of the local and national precursors, 2) describe some key events during the period of unrest, and 3) give suggestions to prevent reoccurrence. Martelle pg. 195. There was much more disparity between whites and blacks at the time. Many blacks were living in poverty; had poor housing, education. Many blacks were unable to complete educational processes because of these issues. There were also many showdowns between whites and blacks at the time, such as those where there were cross-burnings.

13.) Some individuals, like Younger Brother for example, became radicalized upon hearing Emma Goldman’s lectures. Interestingly, Coalhouse Walker’s radicalization is a different process. Doctorow writes: “The oppressor is wealth my friends. Wealth is the oppressor. Coalhouse Walker did not need Red Emma to learn that. He needed only to suffer.” Walker’s radicalization is less theoretical in other words. As a result, describe the material circumstances that formulate Walker’s way of seeing. Coalhouse took pride in his car, and when it was not fixed after it was vandalized, he flipped a switch. Judges and police officer would not help him because he was black.

14.) The 1960s-approach to housing for the poor represents a past “way of seeing” that has since been abandoned. That is it to say in other words that the “projects” no longer produced a Burger King Effect. Identify and discuss some important and relevant developments and events that contributed to this change, in attitude and behavior. Course materials as well as Passport experience ought to inform the direction of your answer. There was no longer a burger king effect because there was a segregation of races between the city and the suburbs. People no longer were attracted to the city because this is the beginning of an era where what was left behind (the city) began to dwindle.

15.) The following passage is from Ragtime: “From these principles Ford established the final proposition of the theory of industrial manufacture—not only that the parts of the finished product be interchangeable, but that the men who build the products be themselves interchangeable parts.” How would Emma Goldman (or Diego Rivera for that matter) respond to Ford’s way of seeing? And briefly explain how “Fordism” affected Detroit’s labor and immigration politics. Do you agree with Scott Martelle’s assertion that,because of these new ways of seeing, “The American dream shifted from one of freedom to one of riches and acquisition”? Goldman and Rivera would disagree with Ford, because they are anti-communist. They believe that each person is unique, and they have their own important role. If they were interchangeable, they would be pointless. It affected the labor and immigration politics because it attracted people with the $5 day. Yes I agree with Martelle, because people suddenly came to Detroit; increased competition for jobs so that there was more competitive jobs. People then had their freedoms.

16.) Throughout the course, we have consistently heard that Detroit is the most “American” of cities. What is meant by an “American” city, as compared to cities in other parts of the world? Do you think that Detroit is, in fact, the most “American”? Please use Rybczynski’s typologies of cities from City Life when framing your answer. Jeffersonian grid vs. cosmic style road systems. Also, it has become an American ideal where people build things and just leave them. Instead of taking pride in what we have, we use things and then just leave it behind. Our ways of seeing change, and so we look for new places and things to accommodate them. Moreover, American cities are meant usually for profit, and not for aesthetics. Here, people live in the present; i.e. we built skyscrapers merely for the want to do so, they were not needed.

17.) To help Detroit emerge from bankruptcy, imagine that current mayor Mike Duggan issues a "Detroit toll” of $1 each time a person from Detroit's suburbs enters the city. He believes this toll is necessary because of suburbanites' historically close connection to Detroit and their partial reliance on the city for jobs, sporting events, restaurants, concerts, museums, etc. Is this toll justified? Defend your answer and make sure it includes reference to content from course readings, seminar discussions, and/or lectures. Yes, it is justified because the people should give back to the city. This might sound too liberal, but I would not be against it as much as I would be for it. However, even though this is justifiable, it is very impractical and would probably push people away from the city more than it would help. In other words, the issue would get worse in the long run than it is now.

18.) Urban riots/rebellions erupted in hundreds of American cities between the 1940s and 1970s. What were the causes, both deep-rooted and immediate, behind these uprisings? How do they reflect different ways of seeing? How did they both reflect and reshape urban forms? Deep-rooted racial tension, poor education in urban areas, poor access to livable housing. It affirmed that the blacks did not have the backing of the police, and it affirmed that the whites were undoubtedly racist towards the blacks. Most of th areas that were vandalized during the 5 days that the riots went on for were never rebuilt and are still in despair today.

19.) Using the course definition of “modernity,” contrast the Squire’s modern “way of seeing” with the traditional approach, compare it to the designer-American “way of seeing,” bringing in Cadillac and touching on a societal consequence, such as who did or did not benefit from this brand-new “way of seeing.” “Modernity” was defined as the “new normal” in which everything was changing. Squire saw this as a dump. He didn’t understand what they could do with it. Cadillac saw it as having great potential. Designer way of seeing is being able to live other places than where people work, shop, etc… Immigrants benefited from this new way of seeing. Native American’s did not benefit from this because they were pushed away.

20.) Was there ever a “golden age” for Detroit? If so, for whom was it a golden age? What criteria should we use to determine Detroit’s high point? Pick a specific time period or decade and defend your answer with evidence from Detroit: A Biography. Yes. This was from the end of the great depression to the late 1950s (mostly post-WWII). This is when people who were working had access to many more things. People also had access to the $5 day. People who were poor would not consider this the golden age of Detroit, but anyone, such as the middle class white people, would consider this the golden age.

21.) We have examined at least three approaches to history, represented by Henry Ford (history is a liability and we should dismantle it), Diego Rivera/Berger (we get into a conversation with the past), and Charlie Chaplin (we should walk through life individually, not obligated by the past). Additionally, this semester we discussed and visited many sites in and around Detroit with varying relations to history, such as the Heidelberg Project, the Detroit Historical Museum, Eastern Market, the Redford Theatre, and the DIA. Discuss in detail how at least three sites successfully and/or unsuccessfully map us into history from these perspectives and why. The Heidelberg project shows that an all of the trash was being thrown on these properties. This showed how people could turn something that was bad for the city into something by glorifying. DIA mural showed how there was a difference in thoughts between Ford and Rivera, where Ford thought the people should leave the city and Rivera thought that people should stay. The DHM is inaccurate because it does not display the negatives of Detroit’s history such as the racial tensions, discriminations, race riots, problems with people leaving city (slums etc…)

22.) We have seen several movements and approaches related to city making in our analysis of Detroit--such as Cahokia, city beautiful, city profitable, and Le Corbusier. Compare and contrast the “ways of seeing” embodied by at least these three approaches. How were they embraced (or not) in the city of Detroit and what, if any, are their lasting effects? Provide specific examples from Detroit’s urban forms to support of your answer. City Beautiful is like what was started with Campus Martius and such, where there was an effort to make the city more aesthetically pleasing. City profitable was embraced because most of downtown Detroit is now used as a place of business, such as the Renaissance Center for GM and all of the business buildings. Le Corbusier dealt with the public housing issue in the ’49 mayoral election, in which he proposed apartment blocks. He thought that instead of streets and sidewalks there should be inside streets such as hallways and elevators. The “city of the future” would involve living above ground and moving on the ground. He was an extremist of city profitable and he thought that there should be a separation of where people live and where they work and move. What actually came of this were the Brewster-Douglass projects; much smaller, much less extreme projects that only partially fell in line with Le Corbusier’s ideas.

23.) We read Ragtime in class as a means of looking at urban issues and ways of seeing that lasted throughout the twentieth century. This book is, however, a work of fiction. Do you think that fictional works can serve as a valid form of historical or urban inquiry? What are the positive and negative consequences of doing so? I think that fictional inquiries are important because there is a new viewpoint that can be used to look at the issues. Sometimes exaggerating the issues can make for a better story and for more action to be taken.
Cons: Loss of credibility, what is real and what is not?