First of three parts. Tomorrow: Book excerpt. Wednesday: Jackass behavior examples we see.
Aaron Foley's first book is a vital public service, and it's easy to see why.
He regularly spots or hears about people who need pointers on "How to Live in Detroit Without Being a Jackass." The author posts a fresh example last week:
I spoke on an Arise Detroit panel [Nov. 7] on Old Vs. New Detroit and a member of the audience told a story about some new neighbors of hers. . . . The new neighbors, young and white, love the house, love the neighbors -- but didn't love a nearby church, which had choir practice every Wednesday night.
This choir had practiced every Wednesday night for years with no complaints. The new neighbors asked the choir if they'd consider quieting down their Wednesday practice or moving it to a different time. Obviously, the choir . . . went on with the weekly practice. So the new neighbors called DPD and the church was given a noise ordinance violation. Now, no more choir practice. So, this is what we want?
Insensitivity call-outs in that vein mix with guidebook-style tips in the 280-page paperback, being sent to advance buyers this week. (Order here from Belt Publishing.) It's "for all of you coastal transplants, wary suburbanites, unwitting gentrifiers, curious onlookers," the back cover says.
'This has been irritating'
Among those who need the book most are visiting journalists who're "only passingly familiar with what's going on here," as Foley writes:
It's impossible for a journalist on a quick visit to get the full flavor of what life is really like in Detroit. Many reports tend to use a specific neighborhood or two, usually ones that are severely decrepit, to represent the city as a whole.
This has been irritating to those who live in the more stable neighborhoods, as well as raising concern that stories of poor, black struggles are being exploited for sensational headlines.
Aaron Foley: "To not be a Detroit jackass, you should . . . respect all neighborhoods." (Photo by Gary Lichtman)
"How to Live . . ." also is a fun read for people with deeper roots and sense enough not to carp about weeknight choirs.
Foley, a 31-year-old essayist, freelance writer, speaker, blogger and ad copywriter, lives on the city's west side near Davison and Livernois. He grew up in the Russell Woods neighborhood on Petoskey Avenue, west of Dexter Avenue and north of Joy Road, and later lived in Lafayette Park.
He graduated from Renaissance High and has a 2007 journalism degree from Michigan State. Career stops include the Lansing State Journal, MLive and WardsAuto.
Ready, Aim, Fire at Curbed Detroit
He writes with wit, verve and bluntness. In "How to Take in Detroit Media," one of 20 chapters, Foley describes Curbed Detroit as "a real estate site where young white people make condescending remarks about the decor choices of old black people. . . . To not be a Detroit jackass, you should know by now to respect all neighborhoods."
He expands on that in online replies Sunday to Deadline.
The book, he says, is for "people unfamiliar with certain aspects of Detroit – whether they just moved here a month ago or if they’ve been here for five years. When you’re unfamiliar with the history of Detroit, and how we got to this point where are now, it’s easy to make the kind of mistakes that upset people. Mistakes like believing that an entire city is abandoned, or believing that people are just sitting here doing nothing, or that they don’t love the city they’re in.
"I just want people to know that it’s OK to love Detroit, but don’t think that the people who are here don’t love it."
His breezy, conversational text includes quick-hit lists (classic Detroit foods, fashions unique to Detroit, how to dance like a Detroiter, 40 ways to tell if you're New Detroit).
But Foley delivers more than a flip-through reference or holiday gift book (actually, it'd be a dandy -- if you dare). He wants to put a bug in our heads, a whisper in our ears, that says; "Think about this before doing or saying something stupid."
"How to Live . . .," like his other writing, isn't aimed solely at white readers. "It's really about getting all people of all backgrounds to understand the tumultuous history of this city," Foley tells Deadline. "But lately, more often than not, it has been the younger, white residents who have been clueless."
Fourth-generation Detroiter
Foley's Detroit pride ("I can't imagine myself anywhere else") and rich family heritage here deepen his overall message. One of his great-grandmothers lived in Black Bottom; the other was among the first black residents of Conant Gardens on the northeast side.
But wait, there's more: One set of his grandparents own a six-bedroom Indian Village mansion built in 1917 and on the market for $749,500. "We hope the next owners love it as much as we did, but I don't think anyone ever will," Foley told Rebecca Golden of Curbed Detroit two months ago..
All this makes the writer a keen navigator of the undercurrents between Old Detroit and whatever phrase one applies to the city now. "I'm probably sarcastic 99% of the time I say 'New Detroit,'" Foley acknowledged last month on a Reddit thread about his well-received TEDx conference presentation a few hours earlier.
How to Be White Here
These chapter titles reflect Foley's blend of sarcasm and directness:
- How Not to Offend People When Talking About Detroit
- How to Be White in Detroit
- How to Renovate a Detroit House Without Being a Jackass
- How to Be a Detroit Hipster
Yes, the cover intentionally resembles the labels on an iconic local pop brand.
Hungry for more? Buy the book . . . and check out sample bites:
► White knights: The media coverage of the city's comeback has been overly generous to what locals sometimes call "white saviors": the young, white entrepreneurs chosen by reporters as the faces of Detroit revival, with copy often positing that these bakers or jewelry makers or whatever can "save" the city of Detroit. Like the whole city, lock, stock and barrel. If they're not asked to save the city, they're often juxtaposed against the aforementioned stories of impoverished blacks, send the message that all of black Detroit is in peril, waiting for white knights to rescue them. Some of these stories may not feature people of color at all.
► Personal brands vs. community: Until recently, I didn't know that it was possible to be so selfish, or maybe self-centered, in Detroit. . . . I, and others like me, just wanted to be successful in our own city. I don't think anyone ever thought that living in Detroit meant you had to build a brand around yourself. We were always a community. Now it's every hipsterpreneur for themselves. . . .
New Detroiters think that everyone should be able to pull themselves up from their bootstraps. New Detroiters think that playing fields were always level and that everyone has always had the opportunity to reach the same level of success. New Detroiters think that Detroit was just an empty wasteland for years and years and that every bright-eyed whippersnapper with a foundation grant and a dream is the key to solving all of our city's problems. And New Detroiters don;t have time for skepticism.
► Easy does it on race: All at once, some of Detroit's new white people are crusaders, race-relations experts, civil rights leaders and peace activists, taking up for the cause and going out of their way to show how much they're "down" with us. But let's dial it down a notch when the situation doesn't call for a race-relations forum. ...
Be aware that sometimes your silence can allow others to be heard. And did you know that some of us black people do not want to talk about race all the time?
► "Discoveries" that aren't: Remember, nothing is hidden -- you just didn't know about it. Calling a restaurant a "hidden gem," a "diamond in the dough" or some other terminology when the establishment has been there for decades just mean it was unknown to you until now. Everyone in that particular neighborhood already knew about it, I bet.
► Who's a hipster? One of the consequences of the collapse of journalism here in Detroit is that newsrooms gutted of their diversity in age and race are left with veterans forced to guess at the habits of their grandchildren's generation, and younger, green journalists who haven't figured out how to communicate with people that aren't just like them. . .
I'm still not sure what a hipster is, since it's not exactly spelled out in Detroit media. It;'s just sort of plopped there as a throwaway term. No local columnist has ever tried to define it, as if it were already understood by readers.
► Motor City Muckraker: What sets Muckraker apart from other [media] outlets are [Steve] Neavling's fiery opinions on social media, his self-described "passion" for tough subjects, his genuine compassion for sources and subjects, and his involvement in the occasional scuffle with authorities or others in positions of power. . . . His reporting has been noticed by city administrators and quietly acknowledged . . . as a force by his former [Free Press] colleagues.
A conversation with the author
Foley took time Sunday to share detailed thoughts about his city, other books of interest and assumptions about him "that couldn't be further from the truth."
Here's what we asked and his e-replies:
"It’s either I’m too black, or not black enough."
How did the book influence your TEDx presentation last month?
A. The TEDx presentation and the book both fit a theme I’ve held true to all along: Know that everyone here matters. Know that every business here matters. Know that every neighborhood matters.
There was a time when we didn’t have this competition over which neighborhood is more deserving of accolades over another, or that the red carpet was rolled out just because someone opened a restaurant. We just need to get back to a Detroit where someone isn’t being called a hero or a savior for doing what people do every day in Chicago and New York.
What’s the most significant improvement in Detroit during the past year?
A. That’s tough to say. I think about the exterior changes – several grocery stores upgraded their storefronts to make them more appealing. Adding streetlights. Replacing street signs. And of course, tearing down houses. Making these cleanups are just the first step.
The most annoying change?
A. Nothing exterior, but really the idea of opening businesses – stores, sundry shops, things like that – being viewed as noble causes rather than the monumental risks they are. In Detroit, we love to pat people on the back for “taking a chance on Detroit” – even when that really means “taking a chance on a city full of black people.”
But having talked to several entrepreneurs over the years, no one ever talks about the financial risk, the sweat equity, the pressure to make ends meet and how said businesses can vaporize in the blink of an eye.
Is Detroit changing so fast that you’ll need a second edition to add M-1 Rail etiquette tips and other new challenges?
A. We’ve already talked about a second edition at Belt because things are changing so quickly. Not just M-1, but I mentioned Carole Watson, the co-founder of Us Too Detroit, in a chapter about women in Detroit, and she sadly passed away this month. Or the school systems. Will DPS still exist? Will EAA still exist?Q.
What book or books are you reading now or next?
A. I’m reading “Once in a Great City” by David Maraniss. I need to get a signed copy of Rob St. Mary’s “The Orbit Magazine Anthology” and I’ll be checking out John Rodwan’s “Detroit Is” as soon as it launches next month.
What’s the biggest misconception some people have about you?
A. Where to start? I think people probably think – especially when I was writing for Jalopnik Detroit – that I was anti-white people in Detroit. That I was a reverse racist and things like that. And that couldn’t be further from the truth.
It’s like, I have interracial marriages in my family and mixed relatives. I have a zillion white friends. That sounds really cliché to say (and it’s still dumb when white people say it about black people), but you can’t read something of mine and say “oh, he’s racist against white people” because you’re obviously not reading close enough.
What does it say about Detroit, or about online sniping, when anonymous critics accuse you of “selling out” or writing/speaking mainly for whites?
A. I shrug it off. Like I say on Reddit or anywhere else online, you can look me up anywhere because I put myself out there. I’m not behind a screen name.
I spoke at TEDxDetroit, and yeah, there were a lot of white people there. But if you were actually there like I was, there were not only black speakers, but also black audience members. And the whole thing is on video, distributed to everyone. And Channel 7 was there, broadcasting snippets of the entire conference to everyone who watches. And Metro Times and Deadline Detroit picked up my talk, and didn’t put a “whites only” sign on it, so I’m not sure what the big deal is there.
What do people want from me? It’s either I’m too black, or not black enough. I’m not about to be boxed into that position.
You look at Detroit in articles, essays, wire service dispatches, blog items, SM posts and now a book. What’s next – a song or play?
A. Everybody who goes into some sort of writing career eventually wants to write the big novel. Maybe that’s next? I’d like to.
admire Angela Flournoy, who did “The Turner House.” I could see myself doing something like that.
If you did write a song, what genre would it be?
A. It’d be something you could hustle to, for sure – but then I’d have to learn how to do the dance myself.
Hear the author
- Nov. 17: 6 p.m. at Marble Bar, 1501 Holden St., Detroit. $10 entry includes a drink. Details here.
- Dec. 3: 6 p.m. Pages Bookshop,19560 Grand River Ave. in Northwest Detroit.
- Dec. 9: 6-8 p.m., Barnes & Noble, 2800 S Rochester Rd., Rochester. (Book signing)
- Dec. 10: 6 p.m., Build Institute. 2701 Bagley Ave., Southwest Detroit. (Free, open to public)
- Dec. 17: 7-8:30 p.m. launch party, Signal-Return, 1345 Division St., Detroit Eastern Market area. "Playlists of Detroit music included in the book and other surprises." (Free, open to public)
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