Detroit

Detroit is thought of as a very negative city by many people in the suburbs. We think of broken windows in worn out buildings. We think of homeless “bums” and people with guns. We have heard a few stories of robberies and other crimes and we are scared. We think that we are safer staying outside of the city limits. This may or may not be true but people get a very “ghetto” impression of the city from media so it becomes hard for them to form a different opinion.
The culture, language and even architecture of the city are very stereotypical. The movie 8 Mile definitely helped fuel this negative stereotype. With guns, fights and drugs, we really don’t get a very positive image of what it is really like. Eminem, the main actor of the film, is supposedly showing how his life was growing up in Detroit. His music is also very influential of the way people view Detroit. People who have never even been to the city may think all these things that aren’t true, but they believe everything Eminem says because he grew up there. I’m not saying that his views are not accurate to his life, but it is not accurate to all of Detroit.
The culture that Detroit is thought to have is a very poor, dirty culture made up of mostly black people. Granted, most of the population in Detroit is African-American, they are not all trashy. There are definitely different parts of the city that have different cultures than other parts. There is a strong Hispanic culture in the city which brings about a different culture in their community. Race doesn’t define a culture; the people who live within a community define it. There may be some parts of Detroit that fit this “ghetto” culture but not all parts.
The language of the city varies with culture. There are different languages between the Hispanic community and English speaking communities, but there are also variations among the English language too. Ebonics brings about different words and slang among different communities. You may hear someone speaking English, you may understand some of the words, but the meaning and pronunciation may be very different from what you know. This may cause for some of the conflict within the city.
Personally I feel that Detroit is a great place if you go to the right places. There are dangerous places and dangerous people within Detroit but there are other dangerous places with dangerous people outside of Detroit as well. It’s all about putting yourself in the right situations. Going down to Detroit for a Tigers game or a show at the Fox Theater is a great way to spend free time, but going down to Detroit to just walk around neighborhoods in the dark hours of the night is just asking for trouble.