Detroit is a model city, not a model of cleanliness and beauty as Vancouver or Rome or Kuala Lumpur. Rather it is a model of ugly, hideous side of urban decay. It has not become that way overnight meaning in a short while. The degradation and decline has been gradual. And yet no one seems to have been keen on arresting the decline and instead have watched it go from bad to worse. This paper will look at the issue from various perspectives, economic, social and political.
Analysis It will be in order to survey some opinions on our topic. A selection of these is presented here.

Thomas Sugrue who has researched and written on Detroit’s history contends that the 1967 riots and the election of Coleman Young are not the reason for Detroit’s plight. He says” We have to go back to the 1940s and '50s when the process of white flight to the suburbs and the process of the flight of jobs of factories and employment out of the city as the time when that flight began. Between 1947 and 1963, Detroit lost more than 100,000 jobs and that was during its heyday…. the way that Detroit's problems are often portrayed is as a black problem. My way of thinking is that it has always been a white problem. When black migrants were looking for opportunities to work during the great northern migration, that is when whites began to resist and flee. One of the things I uncovered was there was an intense history of white attacks against the first black families that moved to white neighborhoods in the '40s, '50s and '60s.” (Detroit's future found in ruins of the past 2004)

In his paper “Detroit in Ruins” David Walsh writes…”No doubt a number of specific factors contributed to the degeneration of Detroit's urban core… more than anything else it mirrored the decline in the relative world position and self-confidence of US capitalism, and, specifically, of its automotive industry… One must add that Detroit's decomposition demonstrates the inadequacy of the market as an instrument of social planning, the particularly anarchic character of economic life in this country and the general shortsightedness of the American ruling class.
A writer expressed himself thus: “what is over-looked in the segregation issue is the relative racial harmony Detroit enjoys versus other city's I have lived in. one only needs to visit Georgia, Maryland, or Florida and there is blatant racism everywhere.” (Detroit News CyberSurveys 2004)
Further expressions on the subject cannot be reproduced here for obvious reasons. It would appear from a study of the various opinions that the problem obviously cannot be attributed to a single factor. Racial prejudice, though contained, still rears across the United States. It is the same white and the same non-whites in Detroit as there are in Cleveland, Chicago ad other cities. Why should Detroit suffer the decay to this extent. We have to go beyond race reasons to get at the real issue. The race issue did exist in Detroit. It did explode and caused an exodus of white and the big business followed suit. But there is little to suggest that the government (both state and federal) took necessary steps to, at least partially, solve the problem. However the following appear to be more relevant than others:
Political

• Lack of governmental control and initiative on maintaining
  race relations in Detroit.
• Lack of contribution from media, police and leaders of public opinion in diffusing the race-related tension.
• Lack of Federal support in turning around the situation following the riots
• Lack of Federal funding for demolishing old building and erecting new one in their place.
  Economic
• Pulling out of businesses during the tension years exacerbated the crisis.
• Lack of fresh investment that would woo back those who had left
  and to build new housing and businesses.
  Sociological
• The continued existence/status of African Americans living outside the mainstream life be it academic. This is a countrywide issue but applies to Detroit as well.

Though it is difficult to isolate one factor still if that is what is required then it would not be too unsafe to conclude that the major blame lays on the government for failing to take measure to deactivate the racial time bomb that went off in 1967. The crisis had been brewing for quite some time. The simmering fire was left to smolder for far too long. Had the leadership been proactive the worse of the crisis could have been averted. This was not done and the consequences are a natural result. It was the government’s responsibility to provide the lead and come down heavily on any act of racial prejudice that would build up tensions and ultimately spark a riot. The government could have mobilized public opinion and actively supported moderate and sane voices. It could have guided the media too. Though much responsibility rests on the state government it is time that some legislation is passed that makes it necessary for the Federal government also to intervene in the overall interest of the country. In the case of Detroit unfortunately the government at Federal was found wanting.