I always thought Detroiters got a raw deal.
The last two years, riverfront parks in Detroit were closed during the Ford Fireworks, while the VIP experience at Belle Isle was protected.
The last two years, I argued that the riverfront parks should be open. That Detroit should be run for the benefit of Detroiters, not outsiders who can pick their level of involvement with the city.
But the last two years, Detroit was gripped by the kind of violence, on or near the night of the fireworks, that makes me think Mayor Mike Duggan was right to close the riverfront parks.
This—the violent and fatherless children fighting downtown—is why you can’t have nice things, Detroit. There aren’t enough parents around to share the load. Specifically, there aren’t enough fathers around to raise level-headed men and correct them when they stray.
This downtown brawling is a version of what’s been happening in Detroit since the “Devil’s Night” 1980s: large groups of teenagers marauding and fighting. To combat this menace, Detroit Police Department usually enforces its teen curfew on fireworks nights and the night before Halloween.
But in the good old days, parents enforced curfews. Not cops. In a city whose activists decry “overpolicing,” parental enforcement should be the preferred option.
Therein lies the problem. There are not enough parents in Detroit. Too many kids have one or no adults to answer to. U.S. Census data shows that only 19.3% of Detroit homes are married-couple households, the smallest group.
Single-father households come in next at 27.6%. Single-mother homes are as big as the other two combined at 46.1%. This is not a pathway to success.
Michigan’s biggest and most important city is overrun with the fatherless. Detroit’s biggest problem can’t be solved by electing a new mayor or lowering tax rates. The change in leadership that’s needed is on the homefront, within the four walls of a house.
Yet when the Detroit mayoral candidates debate, family formation is rarely mentioned as a problem or a solution. Not even in the mayoral don’t-call-it-a-debate co-hosted by Michigan Enjoyer. And I get it. If you are running for office, why mention something you can’t take credit for fixing?
The reason why is, Detroit’s future depends on it.
The last Jewish Census in Metro Detroit, conducted in 2018, found that only 7% of Jewish children in the region live in single-parent homes.
Because Jewish families are strong, their communities are strong. There’s a reason you don’t read many crime stories set in Huntington Woods, and why the ones you do are not about random street crime. The path forward is obvious.
If strong fences make good neighbors, strong families make good cities. At this point, it doesn’t matter who the mayor is. Detroit needs a father, not a mayor.
This would be a good time for mayoral candidates to acknowledge their own limitations. Mike Duggan is in year 12 in the big chair. Despite all the jobs programs, all the grants to community groups, all the midnight basketball-type outreach, Detroit youths are as unruly as they’ve ever been. Clearly this problem is bigger than the mayor’s office.
But public policy can help. What about a deep property tax cut for married families who own a home in the city? These families, and Detroit’s ability to attract them, will decide the quality of its future. Detroit needs to roll out the welcome mat for the most stable institution in society: The family.
If the linking of homeownership and marriage leads Detroit’s youth to see strong families as role models, rather than rarities, the benefits will be massive. What they see is what they’ll be.
Reparations, road diets, and new revenues for city hall won’t fix Detroit.
If Detroit’s next mayor does not have a plan to Make Families Great Again, there will be no comeback.
James David Dickson is host of the Enjoyer Podcast. Join him in conversation on X @downi75.
