“How come all of the jurisdictions put under emergency management are majority African American? Has anybody noticed that?” asked Rep. John Conyers (D), who has represented Detroit for 47 years. “There seems to be a racial aspect, a racial component of the application of this law.”
Under a newly strengthened law allowing the governor to appoint emergency managers over local governments, appointees are now running other financially bereft cities with large black populations — including Benton Harbor, Pontiac, Ecorse and Flint. If Detroit is added, a sizable proportion of the state’s black residents will be living under emergency managers.
