flint michigan

A strong culture is one that has dependency upon itself along with
outside resources. The economy is hard if nearly impossible to predict,
and this puts severe strain on a community that is dependent on one
employer. Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Flint are examples of these types
of communities. When a manufacturing process or company pulls out of
a city, many problems arise. Flint is a city which has had a significant
portion of an industry leave. GM used to be the heart of Flint, until the
decision to downsize was made. This caused approximately 40 thousand
of the 80 thousand GM employees to loose their jobs. Recently there
was a debate pitting two sides of an issue. The question consisted of the
decline of General Motors in Flint. Is it a catastrophe or does it provide
an opportunity for the community. Members of the panel included Bill
Donahue (pro-opportunity), Larry Thompson (pro-opportunity), Dorothy
Reynolds (catastrophe supporter) and Ruben Burks (catastrophe
supporter). In the beginning, there were many advantages of having
GM as the dominate employer in Flint. The quantity of GM jobs in Flint
provided for an economic boom town in the 1960's and 1970's. Money
from General Motors trickled down from the workers to every part of the
economy of Genesse county. The population was on the rise which
meant more homes, roads, and businesses. It was all to good to be true.
When Roger Smith (then President of GM) decided to relocate numerous
jobs from the Buick City, it was time for Flint to pay the piper. The large
dependency on GM brought upon a rapid decline in the economy
unparalleled by any city in United States history. The removal of
jobs from GM caused many problems in Flint. Dororthy Reynolds gave
many statistics which proved how much the decline of GM hurt Flint. She
pointed out that since the removal of GM jobs, Flint has become the 2nd
most dangerous city in America while being the 6th most segregated. The
lack of economic development since the early 1980's has also had a
terrible impact on the children of Flint and Genesse county. Thirty
percent of the children in Genesse county live at or below the poverty

level where the graduation rate in the schools has shrunk to 57%. Mrs.
Reynolds also pointed out the fact that only three new home
developments have been started in the last 18 months. Ruben Burks
was also invited to share his opinions on the catastrophe surrounding
Flint. Unfortunately for the audience, his relationship with the United Auto
Workers was at a level to where he couldn't expand on his negative GM
opinions. The other side of the issue brought Bill Donahue and Larry
Thompson to the podium. First to speak was Mr. Donahue. He brought
several points of opportunity for Flint. The first point concentrated on the
stabilization of GM employment in Genesse county. Secondly, he
pointed out the need to diversify the economy. His third point was to
align the schools, colleges, and churches to work together for the
common goal. Larry Thompson also had several points of his own on the
opportunity that Flint possess. Again, the need to diversify the economy
was a major point. He pointed out that the finger pointing between the
two sides is not productive and is actually inhibiting Flint from looking past
what happened in the early 1980's. Mr. Thompson's quote of "Growing
as a person is when you suffer some sort of loss" provides the
opportunistic attitude that is lacking in the Flint. Both sides presented
arguments that supported their respective feelings. It would be great if
the majority of the citizens of the county possessed some sort of
opportunistic attitude. For instance, the diversification of the economy will
be very difficult as many of the former GM workers will not be willing to
work for less than $18 dollars an hour. Unfortunately, many of the new
jobs, when and if they come to Flint, will pay quite a bit less than General
Motors. The inclusion of the poor community will also take time as many
of the lower class would prefer to milk the welfare and public assistance
programs. Perhaps the only sure thing about Flint is that it will take time
to heal the wounds left by the General Motors Corporation.