What does Benny Napoleon think of your neighborhood?
Napoleon hasn't officially announced he is running for mayor of Detroit, but already he's managed to discover a novel way of dividing Detroiters -- pitting one city community against another.
For the past 40 years or so, the Detroit politicians who’ve played the race card have asked if opponents were “black enough.”
Politicians who have played the geography card have focused most of their enmity on suburbanites.
But no one in memory who wants to be mayor has disparaged a Detroit neighborhood, as Napoleon did Tuesday night at New Bethel Baptist Church, after a service marking the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.
During the service, Napoleon made it clear he is going to run an insular campaign.
"It's our Detroit, and we're going to keep it for Detroiters," he said.
After the service, according to Mike Wilkinson of the Detroit News, Napoleon denigrated Palmer Woods while criticizing Mike Duggan, another probable but unannounced mayoral candidate who moved into that wealthy district last year after living most of his life in suburban Livonia. Napoleon is black; Duggan is white.
Wilkinson wrote: “Napoleon scoffed at whether Duggan's current neighborhood off Woodward, where estate-size homes were once the province of auto executives and Detroit's social elite, could give him the same perspective as the average Detroiter.
"Hell, no," he said. "Palmer Woods is not Detroit."
Give Napoleon his due. He has created a new benchmark for Detroit politicians.
Previous candidates have railed against the generic “downtown” in accusing the mayor of favoring the central business district.
But no one was dizzy enough to pick a fight with one particular neighborhood, especially one like Palmer Woods, whose residents not only vote in big numbers but also donate to political campaigns.
Napoleon’s comment raises questions about how he conceptualizes the rest of the city. Does his disdain for Palmer Woods extend to Palmer Woods’ suburbs: Sherwood Forest, the University District and Green Acres?
What about Palmer Park? A lot of people there live in apartments. That’s not typical of Detroit.
Lafayette Park? Kind of an effete place. Its residents live in townhouses designed by a European.
Midtown? It’s filled with intellectuals. They ride bikes. There’s a restaurant that serves crepes. And an art museum.
Corktown? Newcomers are everywhere.
Downtown? An outsider from Oakland County is doing a land-grab, buying up all the buildings.
Woodbridge? They don't have driveways.
Indian Village? It’s the Palmer Woods of the East Side.
On Wednesday, Napoleon tried to walk back his gaffe.
“Palmer Woods is not Detroit?” he asked on his Facebook page.
“Nothing is further from the truth. It is one of our prized neighborhoods. However, the Palmer Woods experience is far different from that of the average Detroiter’s neighborhood experience. Most Detroiters, including those in Palmer Woods, understand that without clarification. But to set the record straight, I believe Palmer Woods is not only Detroit, it is what we want Detroit neighborhoods to aspire to be.”
I’m sure Dennis Archer would agree with that. He lived in Palmer Woods, and Detroiters elected him mayor twice. And Detroiters elected Dave Bing mayor, and he, like Duggan, moved into the city from the suburbs to run. Bing, in fact, lived in Franklin. In a gated community.
The last I knew, Napoleon had lived for years on Oakman Boulevard, a long, bending street of nice lots, distinctive homes and little abandonment. (And his home was suspiciously close to the Dearborn border.)
A guy with the mindset of Benny Napoleon could easily drive down that street and conclude “Oakman Boulevard is not Detroit.”
