East St. Louis As Detroit's Mirror

http://www.solidarity-us.org/site/node/3969
Date Written:  2013-09-01
Publisher:  Against The Current
Year Published:  2013
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX20076

East St. Louis, Illinois, in many ways a smaller Detroit.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

Sadly, the story of Detroit is not new or unique. It is shared by many former industrial places in the U.S. Midwest. Several years ago, I set out to research and write about East St. Louis, Illinois -- in many ways a smaller Detroit. A former center of industry and transportation, its working and middle-class populations shifted from predominantly white to majority Black in the mid-20th century.

Like Detroit, East St. Louis experienced dramatic economic shifts as manufacturers and businesses closed up shop and moved elsewhere. Today, its tragic narrative highlights the new urban landscape -- industrial cities and suburbs, places tossed away and abandoned by the general public, elected officials and corporate America.