Friends School
This week we learned that Friends School will be torn down to make way for a wealthy housing development. Friends School was a valued community resource. It offered an educational experience for young Detroiters based on Quaker values of peace and social justice. Detroit Friends was started in 1965 by Judge Wade McCree Jr. in response to his daughter being turned away from a white private school. Until 2015, when it was forced to close, Friends developed children in the city as responsible, thoughtful, creative citizens.
The school has been purchased by Broder & Sachse and Woodborn Partners. Over the last few years, their development initiatives have violated the Quaker spirit of Friends. Social justice has not been a core value in their efforts. Rather, they have been a driving force in the reshaping of the city as a white, exclusive, protected area. Their efforts at redesigning the city capture the contrasting visions of who our city is for and what makes it vital.
Broder & Sachse and Woodborn first came to public attention in 2014 with their purchase of the Griswold Building. Renaming it The Albert, they aggressively evicted 120 residents, most of them elderly African Americans who saw the Griswold as home. Renovations began while people were still in the building, contributing to increasing health risks. Ultimately seven people died during or shortly after the forced relocation process.
The rebranding as the Albert was supported by an ad campaign that embodied the vision of a city being reshaped for the pleasure of young, white, wealthy, socially clueless people. The ad begins and ends with young (usually) white folks stressing the theme “Detroit is My generation’s city.”
The ad was so offensive the developers tried to reshape it, then withdrew it. Local activists ridiculed it, creating a devastating version that intersperses the voices of local residents with the comments of young, white, would-be apartment dwellers.
Without a trace of irony, in response to concerns expressed by long-time neighbors of Friends School, Broder & Sachse CEO Rich Broder told the Free Press, "I think people are familiar with our work, our style, and our quality, so when we're ready to go, it will probably look like something that you're used to seeing from us – in terms of quality."
Their work, usually underwritten by public funds includes The Scott at Brush Park and The Coe at West Village. The Scott opened along Woodward in December 2016. This is one of the most luxury-laden places in Detroit, with a swimming pool, 24-hour concierge service, and a fancy lounge. The Coe at West Village, recently opened, is a smaller 12-unit project. Using Detroit Strategic Neighborhood funds, the luxury apartments range from about $1,000 to $2,000 a month for a studio to one-bedroom lofts.
The reshaping of Detroit is happening swiftly. Much of it is without regard to the people whose energy, imagination, and skills have sustained the city with few resources.
Displacement and development for the white and wealthy are not natural nor inevitable. Cities around the country are offering different visions of how to move forward as a city with justice. Recently, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced new programs to fulfill her campaign promise of investing $1 billion in affordable housing and anti-displacement measures.
Her programs include a $9 million initiative to offer forgivable loans to homeowners to make critical upgrades to their houses. The Heritage Owner-Occupant Rehab Program is meant to help current residents stay in their homes as the city’s property market changes. It will also prioritize low-income seniors, military veterans, and disabled heads of household, as well as residents who have owned their homes for 15 years or more.
The Mayor of Atlanta said, “Building a city for everyone means ensuring that those who have roots in our communities can remain in their homes, remain in these communities, and also live with dignity.”
The commitment of Friends School to values of dignity, peace, and justice need not be lost. We simply need the will to demand that the growth of our city reflects the best values of our past that are essential to our future.