It was more Coleman Young. He alienated all the white business owners, enough so that Bill Davidson moved the Pistons out of Detroit. Also if you look between 1950 when Detroit was at its biggest and the 4th largest city, and 1960, the black population had increased by over 100% and in the same time, the homicide rate went up 200%, and the armed robbery by over 500%. That led to the 1967 riots in which thousands of building were burned, and the city lost nearly 1 million people. If you look at the suburbs, Oakland county is the richest county outside of the states of Florida and California, so apparently the auto industry hasn't effected them. Also Troy and Sterling Heights (white suburbs) were ranked as the 5th and 16th safest cities in America respectively. Perhaps you should come here and visit the suburbs and get a better understanding. All the crime and trash is contained inside the city of Detroit. The suburbs are still pretty nice.