I get the outrage over the appointment of emergency manager Kevyn Orr.
I get the slight.
I get the racial undertones.
I get why people are protesting at city hall, shouting how angry they are, how fed up they are with Gov. Rick Snyder’s move.
What I don’t get is this: Where the heck were those very people, where was the collective outrage, when Detroit’s homicide rate began to rival New York City’s.
When the ambulances no longer showed up for calls?
When houses burned before fire trucks could arrive?
When the police force fell to ridiculously low levels?
When the cops stopped responding to calls for serious crimes?
When Pastor Marvin Winans was carjacked and assaulted at a gas station?
When the city went broke?
When Kwame Kilpatrick duped the electorate?
Yes, it wouldn’t be far fetched to argue that democracy has seen better days in Detroit.
But how democratic is to be imprisoned in your home, night after night, fearful of walking the street?
Is that democracy?
How democratic is it to see crack dealers rule the neighborhood rather than elected officials?
No one voted for them.
How democratic is it to pay taxes for city services you never get?
How fair is it to pay high taxes and get inadequate schools?
Outrage can be good.
Protests can be great.
But it seems maybe, just maybe, if that same outrage had materialized over the years over some of these crucial issues -- many life and death -- there might not be a need for an emergency manager.
Just maybe.
