Are Michigan's Efforts to Fix America's 'Worst City' Racist?

May 24, 2012 from Al Jazeera English

There is a growing controversy over how one state in the US is trying to turn around cities that have fallen on hard times. Benton Harbor city in Michigan has been in financial meltdown since the 1980s, when the city was so far in debt that its police cars were repossessed. Some residents welcome the intervention by state leaders, while others are calling it undemocratic and racist. Al Jazeera's John Hendren has more.

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Benton Harbor, Michigan

Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan which is located west of Kalamazoo, and northwest of South Bend, Indiana. In 2010, the population was 10,038 according the census. It is the smaller, by population, of the two principal cities in the Niles... Explore this topic

Economic inequality

Economic inequality is the differences in the distribution of economic assets and income within or between populations or individuals. The term typically refers to inequality among individuals and groups within a society, but can also refer to inequality among countries. The i... Explore this topic

Michigan

Michigan is a state in the Great Lakes region of the Midwestern United States. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake". Michigan is the 9th most populous of the 50 United States, with the 11th most extensive tot... Explore this topic

Social inequality

Social inequality refers to relational processes in society that have the effect of limiting or harming a group’s social status, social class, and social circle. Areas of social inequality include access to voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, the extent of property ... Explore this topic

Whirpool

惠而浦NYSE：WHR是美國密西根州本頓港的一家電器製造商，位列於財富500強中。 2006年3月31日，惠而浦在收購美泰格公司後成為全球最大的電器製造商。 Explore this topic

Racism

Racism is usually defined as views, practices and actions reflecting the belief that humanity is divided into distinct biological groups called races and that members of a certain race share certain attributes which make that group as a whole less desirable, more desirable, in... Explore this topic

Poverty in the United States

In November 2012 the U.S. Census Bureau said more than 16% of the population lived in poverty in the United States, including almost 20% of American children, up from 14.3% in 2009 and to its highest level since 1993. In 2008, 13.2% Americans lived in poverty. In 2011, Extreme... Explore this topic

United States

The United States of America, commonly called the United States, or America, is a federal republic consisting of fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capi... Explore this topic

Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. The other four Great Lakes are shared by the U.S. and Canada. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, ... Explore this topic

Al Jazeera English

Al Jazeera English is an international 24-hour English-language news and current affairs TV channel headquartered in Doha, Qatar. It is the sister channel of the Arabic-language Al Jazeera. The station broadcasts news features and analysis, documentaries, live debates, current... Explore this topic

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Benton Harbor, Michigan

Economic inequality

Michigan