'See Detroit Like We Do': White Savior Capitalism and the Myth of Black Obsolescence

This essay investigates the phenomenon of wealthy white men who use financial means and power to "revive" Detroit after a perceived "death" through what we call white savior capitalism. This "death," popularized by media portrayals of decline, relies on projecting an im...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American quarterly 2024-03, Vol.76 (1), p.103-126
Main Authors: Helps, David, Hwang, Christine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Capitalism
Cities
Ideology
Local elections
Miles, Tiya
Narratives
Native peoples
Political activism
Political advertising
Political economy
Working class
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This essay investigates the phenomenon of wealthy white men who use financial means and power to "revive" Detroit after a perceived "death" through what we call white savior capitalism. This "death," popularized by media portrayals of decline, relies on projecting an image of Detroit, a Black-majority city on stolen Native land, as a vacant, postindustrial "frontier" despite the continued existence and resistance of Black and Indigenous residents. We trace the prehistory of white savior capitalism to the area's eighteenth-century conquest by French settlers, the exclusionary redevelopment policies of Mayor Coleman Young's administration (1974–94), and Detroit's use of federal antipoverty funds and eminent domain to establish a General Motors Plant in the Poletown neighborhood. Finally, we demonstrate how the recent and ongoing "rediscovery" of Detroit by businesspeople such as Dan Gilbert gave rise to white savior capitalism. Parallel to these developments, activist movements in the Black Left have presented alternative solutions and imagined futures that include Black and Native Detroit.
ISSN:0003-0678
1080-6490
1080-6490
DOI:10.1353/aq.2024.a921582