1986 Segregated Parks

As of the 1980 census, there were only 83 Black individuals living in Dearborn, making Black folks less than 0.1% of Dearborn's total population of 90,660. In this same census we see that neighboring Detroit was more than 63% Black and nearby Inkster was nearly 57% Black. This was a direct and intentional result of years of exclusionary racist policies implemented by the city, regional, and state governments. These policies include:

• Dearborn was created as a settlement for Henry Ford's white workers in 1926, while Inkster was set aside for Black workers

• Racial covenants on properties, present in Dearborn and enforceable until 1948

• Purposeful lack of affordable rental housing due to zoning restrictions (see the decades long campaign to eliminate Dearborn's Southend neighborhoods) and cancellation of major construction projects (see Hancock Housing, 1948)

• The purposeful use of Dearborn's police force to harass Black individuals, encouraged by Mayor Hubbard for the duration of his tenure (1942-1978)

• Targeted attacks on individuals suspected of selling their homes to Black families (see Kendal Street incident, 1963)

• Strong and repeated resistance to participation in regional bussing desegregation programs (1972)

While there are many other factors that influenced it, the result is the same. Dearborn in 1986 was overwhelmingly white, and neighboring cities were majority Black.

In the 1980s, overt racist rhetoric had fallen out of favor, and pundits were using more coded terms. Rather than using language of race, white supremacists were able to leverage the racial segregation of the region to inflame racial tensions. Rather than say "the parks are only for white people" or "no Black people allowed", segregationists used the language of residency declaring "Dearborn parks for Dearborn residents". With less than 0.1% of Dearborn's residents Black, this rule clearly communicated racist outcomes while skirting around the language of race.

Clear in this decision was the implication that Black folks were welcome to spend their money in Dearborn, and give their labor to Dearborn's businesses, but not enjoy themselves or benefit from Dearborn's amenities.

As Accountability for Dearborn has been working to bring attention and awareness to the impact of Dearborn's policies on Dearborn's communities, a common refrain has been that only Dearborn residents should have a say in Dearborn policies. The government of Dearborn's decisions and actions impact our neighbors on all sides of us. Dearborn's history of racist policies mean that there are key voices not present in discussions about anti-racism, and these voices are those most impacted by racial injustice.

When you work in Dearborn, shop in Dearborn, recreate in Dearborn, and pass-through Dearborn your labor, your commerce, your presence, and your spirit make Dearborn the community that it is. If we're going to build an inclusive Dearborn that means every member of Dearborn's communities has a chance to give input.