3 Myths about “The D”

It seems like every time that I leave Detroit, I meet people who want to know about where I’m from. Much of their curiosity is sparked by all of the negative press that our city gets in the media, and just the fact that they’ve never actually been to “The D”. So I thought that I’d take a moment to list some of the craziest myths that I’ve heard about my hometown.

1. All Girls from Detroit look like Aaliyah

I first heard this during undergrad at Howard, and thought that it was hilarious. I was like, “Uh, I’m from Detroit and I don’t look like Aaliyah”! , and the guy said that I did and named one other girl from our school that was from Detroit with a similar look so I couldn’t tease him too much. Several years later I heard the same thing from a guy in Miami, so I guess people really thought that there was something to that lol…. which is certainly not an insult. For those who don’t know, Aaliyah was a big R&B star in the mid-90’s until her untimely death in 2001. She was originally from Brooklyn, NY but was raised in Detroit and attended the Detroit School of Arts (DSA).

2. Everyone from Detroit is “ghetto”

This is a common and annoying misconception. I’ve had so many people ask if I was really from Detroit and not a suburb of the city simply because I speak and behave like a normal person instead of one of the Basketball Wives. Although you do have to develop a tough skin, street smarts and an edge to you to succeed in a city like Detroit, that doesn’t mean that everyone here is loud, inarticulate, rowdy, violent, or any of the other negative adjectives that some use to describe Detroiters. In fact my city is home to many black lawyers, doctors, judges and other professionals, in addition to the ghetto-fabulous divas and street dudes that we hear so much about.

3. All the houses in Detroit cost $1

I know, I know, we have a lot of blight around the city made up of abandoned houses, unruly yards and junk dumped in unattended lots from Detroiters and suburbanites alike, BUT we also have some really beautiful homes in Detroit, from those in the various historic neighborhoods to ones located in the many different pockets of the city that don’t receive as much fanfare – and although many of them are very affordable compared to similar homes in other major cities, they do cost MORE than $1!!!!

I could go on and on about all of the off-the-wall comments that people make and the misconceptions that people have about Detroit, but I’ll save them for another time and just encourage those who don’t know to find out for themselves – Visit “The D”!