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June 4, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels May 18, 2004 Sticking up for the Motor City An open letter to Jeff Golden in response to his guest on 4/23/04, Marshall Rosenberg. Dear Jeff, I am still outraged by your guest on Friday, in what seems to be a limited understanding of the city in which he was born, he adds to the misinformation so often projected by the media about Detroit. Yes, Detroit is a very different city than little Ashland. I love Ashland, but would not dare to compare it to the greatness of "Motown," the "Motor City," or the "Arsenal of Democracy," as Detroit was known through World War II. I too was born in that great city. My father was a United Auto-Workers organizer during the 1930s and throughout his life. As I remember my childhood it seemed my father was always in or coming back from jail or the hospital after suffering injuries inflicted on him by National Guard, police, or the strike-breakers (scabs). Together my father and people of all backgrounds, but especially Slavic-Americans, including a very large presence of Polish Immigrants, forged a great union. The UAW gave an opportunity to all people, the original eastern European immigrants, the African-American and the white disenfranchised people of the south and Appalachia. These people flowed in great numbers to this industrial center, in what was known as "Great Migration." In Detroit the working people took their place in the middle class. They educated their children and sent them on to the great land-grant universities of Michigan. I lived through all this and the experience is forever imprinted on my soul. I could go on about the race riots, which your guest spoke of, but that is another complicated discussion. It is one that brings together the threads of the capitalist concept of 'divide and conquer', with which the owners used to indoctrinate their new workers. There were also the issues of the influx of many people from areas of the country where segregation was still the norm, and the struggle of the union people who had worked so hard to build a new life. All of this must be a part of the discussion. This is not an attempt to excuse, but only a challenge to see how complicated this issue is, and to understand the depths and nuances of this tragic event. It's important to look deeper to see the background upon which social change takes place. Detroit is on hard times now. It is struggling through the UAW to fight against out-sourcing and the problems inherent in globalization. These challenges will demand the commitment of us all to meet the issues of our day. I know the great city of Detroit, its unions and its people will survive and build a new tomorrow. Cynthia Zavatski Ashland DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams