Detroit Talk City | Snap benefits cuts

Thank you for joining us on this Wednesday, October the 14th. I'm your host, Charlie Langton. Welcome to Detroit Talk City. All right, let's get right into today's topics. Where will they find their next meal? Hundreds of thousands of families in Michigan have had their food benefits cut, forcing them to find other ways to eat. Champion of the poor, Maureen Taylor, is here to tell us why this is a major federal mistake. Plus, is the black dollar leaving Detroit? In 2010, Detroit had over a half million black residents. But today, there's been a 19% increase of black residents in the suburbs. The chair of the Michigan Democratic Black Caucus, Keith Williams, is here. He will weigh in on all of that. And that brings us to our poll, our question of the day. So is Detroit's comeback forcing black residents out? Just scan that QR code right there at the bottom of the screen. We'll show you the results later on in the show. And this show, you know, it's all about hearing from you, the viewer. We want to have a conversation, so let's weigh in. You can text us. You can call us at 313-765-8844. Jump into the Zoom room, 892-4909-0290. and on social media, hashtag us at Detroit Talk City. All right, let's talk to Maureen Taylor. Always good to see you. It's good to be seen and not viewed. I'm glad, okay. You are the state chair of the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, a non-profit. That's right. I've been doing that for a long time. Long time now. SNAP benefits as we know them, 167,000 fewer enrolled. In one year. In one year. In one year. Yeah, that's just in the state of Michigan. So we're talking about from June of last year till June of this year. And of those 167,000 who have dropped off the rolls, 53,000 of that number are children. But I wanted to say something to you first. You know, I've known you 10, 12 years, maybe longer. And you and I have had similar conversations over the years. And is it not strange that even today, October in 2026, we are still having a conversation, you and I, about ways that the government is trying to reduce food benefits, trying to reduce access to health care. What the hell kind of people are we? Well, so let's let's let's talk about it. We agree on here that the administration, Trump administration says they there's fraud and abuse. in the system. Do you agree? There's fraud and abuse in Washington. The person that made that allegation is the first place we should go to check fraud and abuse. I wish my last name was Trump and somebody gave me some bitcoins and some of those other kinds of things. But if there is fat in the program, what we should do is fix it. Do you think there is? I don't know any. I don't know anybody that is collecting Medicaid or food stamps that should not be i know of none of that one of the other ones a little more i guess quantifiable would be the requirement that people have to work isn't that something isn't that something but as i understand it though um they've increased the age in which you have to work in order to get the um the EBT and SNAP benefits let's call them SNAP benefits, they're food benefits, so so so more people now have to work at least 20 hours a week, 80 hours a month that would be about correct yes so isn't that a good thing? no it's not a good thing people shouldn't work people should work if they can these requirements are absolute restrictions unless you do this this and this your SNAP benefits may be denied and again I ask the same question what kind of people are we to deny folks food because maybe they only worked 60 hours or maybe they worked 40 hours. They didn't work enough. So what does that mean? They don't eat. Here's the amount of money that's being expended for a person on any of the food programs. They get approximately six dollars a day per person. Let's go over that. I don't know when the last time you've been shopping. What can you buy for six dollars you can't you can't the total is like 292 bucks and that's all they get yeah that's it but what you can get for six dollars you can get a loaf of bread and a large uh jar of peanut butter and one sharp knife and you could eat that three times a day and I must say it's outrageous but but the idea to work i mean the idea is to get people off if that was really what the goal is then there would be programs put in place for training, for skill training, for accessing opportunities for low-income people. Those things would be available. You don't have to work the full 80 hours a month. You can actually go into a job training program. That's one of the ways. That's a good thing, isn't it? That is a good thing. But the whole concept that says I'm going to tie your capacity to eat to whether or not you do 80 hours of volunteer work or a job or something like that, that's wrong. If you don't make the 80 hours, don't you get three months of benefits and then it kicks in? But what you're talking about are restrictions. You can do this for three months or the next piece. You could do it for four months or somebody will come up with another chance and another way of managing. This is the United States of America. We're supposed to be the richest people in the world. We can't figure out what to do and how to feed people. How long? Shame on us. How long do you think people should remain on what's called food stamps? You don't call them food stamps. What do you call them? Snap benefits? What do you call them? Food stamps? Food stamps. All right, food stamps. How long should people stay on food stamps? People should stay on food stamps until they don't need to eat anymore. Well, that could be fine. Well, that's right. People should stay on food stamps. Okay, but don't forget, $6 a day. Everybody gets tired of a $6 a day allotment. Everybody does. I need to go do something else because I probably need $7 or $8 or $10 a day. Do you think they should increase the food stamp benefits? I have for 20 years. How much should it be? How much do you think people should get who are theoretically able to work? How much should they get? I think that people ought to be able to have three meals a day. And those three meals a day, even the SNAP program says supplemental nutrition. We're trying to make people better. We live in a sick society. Well, people have diabetes, high blood pressure, and all these things. If we want things to be better, if we want people to be healthy, they need more vegetables, they need fruits and vegetables, they need more chicken and turkey, we should feed them that. Well, that's part of it. You can get that for food stamps. You can get that, right? $6 a day is the maximum you're eligible to get for one person. How many chickens can you get for $6? I'm not saying it's the right thing. It's not the right thing. But if you take a look, if you have no... Now, the other thing I was thinking, I didn't understand this part of it. If you're dependent, so if you're a single mother, for example. Single mom. I'm sure there's a lot of people like that. Now, what's a single mom? What does that mean? Single meaning what? You don't have a husband or a partner? That's supporting. But you've got a baby. There's a baby, yes. Is that to happen in Detroit? Of course. It happens everywhere. It happens all over the earth. If you had a baby, I don't know how you could do the work requirement if you've got to take care of a kid. you can't and that's the problem well that's a bit that's a problem that doesn't seem to be addressed i have suggested on many many occasions if you want to work out food stamps if you want to work out work out medicaid go call Charlie Langston because he'll have the idea on how to make it fair, no, and if they can't get you, call me, I'll tell them how to do it. Did you, you got a baby? what you're gonna do with the baby? Did you get a, give us a number though it's about two hundred it's six dollars a day, just do the math, six dollars a day, okay? How much should it be? Sixty dollars a day, sixty, oh, and that means you could eat three times a day and then after a week we go in and we assess it. Well, maybe sixty dollars is not the right figure, maybe we lower it to fifty dollars a day, and then we take a look at that. Well, maybe that's not the right figure and we figure it out till we get there, but six dollars a day per person, Charlie, will not work. You agree that the the goal of any SNAP program is to get people back to work No, the goal of the SNAP program, don't forget, it's a supplement It's never meant to be your entire meal. It never was meant to do that. So the goal should be, let's make certain that people have nutritious food. We have diabetes in our community We have high blood pressure. You don't want to create dependence, though, either I mean, there's a balance there, isn't there? Dependence on what? The federal government to make certain that I'm living and I don't get these diseases? Yeah. We should depend on the federal government to do that. That's their damn job All right. Well, that's all right We have too many people with diabetes high blood pressure, all these kinds of things. All right. Fix it. If they do have that, they can get Social Security Disability or SSI, too And if they can get that, it's just an outrageous circumstance that we're living in All right. But the bottom line, we've got 167,000 people in Michigan off the rolls. Yes. Off the rolls. We're going to try to find out why. And we want to hear from you. Should people have to work to receive SNAP benefits? You can text us. You can call us. 313-765-8844. We'll read them on the air. Get your questions answered. Detroit Talk City back after the break. So you want to Zoom on Fox 2? We want you to Zoom on Fox 2, but we want to make you look and sound really, really good. So four easy steps. First of all, take the phone and turn it. We want you to fill up the entire screen. Then you've got to look around and you've got to find the light. Remember, we want the light in front of you, not behind you. That's good. And then, un-zoom mic. We want all of Detroit to hear you. And finally, turn down the television like I'm going to do right now. We want to hear you, not the TV. All right, let's review these easy steps. First, flip it, light it, unmute it, TV. And then you are ready to zoom on Fox 2. Remember, you can be a part of Fox 2's Detroit Talk City and the sports office. Just zoom in live. Welcome back to Detroit Talk City. I'm your host, Charlie Langton. Should SNAP benefits only be given to those who are working? That is one of the requirements. Maureen Taylor, state chair of the Michigan Welfare Rights, is with us. Of course, we do want to hear from you. 313-765-8844. You can also join us in the Zoom room at 892-4909-0290. Right now, you get six bucks a day, give or take. Maureen says it should be $60 a day. That's right. Let's go to the phones, okay? Let's go to Lisa from Pontiac here on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Lisa. Hello. How are you guys doing today? I just had a comment. My comment was about the President of the United States. I was calling to say that since he loves people to praise him and love him and tell him what a beautiful job he's doing. I was just wondering maybe perhaps we as a world can just tell him what a great job he's doing, and maybe perhaps he will change his mind and start doing some of the things that the people need to be done because right now he's focusing on stuff that doesn't matter. All right. How political do you think this is, cutting the SNAP benefit program? There was a time when Michigan and certainly Detroit was the go-to area. Yeah, this is absolutely political because the folks that think welfare recipients or low-income people are getting too much money, they're trying to recruit that group for votes later on down the road. Do you think state leaders are making up the difference? I mean, they could do that too. They could do a lot of things, but the impetus from the beginning is already wrong. All right, $6 a day is what is current, and that's what these figures are right now. And that's wrong. And no one can accept that. And what Miss Lisa is talking about, she's trying to find a way to try to make the world better. You can hear it. Maybe if we do this, things will get better. We're all trying to find a way to make things better, but not by restricting food. Let's go to Jim from Southfield. You're on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Jim. Hey, Charlie. How are you today? Good. My comment is I'm sorry, but this lady is delusional. Don't call names. Don't call names. Be nice. The fraud is unbelievable. I've actually seen people outside party stores selling Snap Cards so they can buy liquor. You know what? It's called go out and get a job. Instead of getting free food, there have been people who have been on food stamps their entire life and have taught their family how to do it. So, yeah, go get a job. Well, we're not talking about members of your family. I guess the whole thing is... We're not talking about members of your family. Hold on. Go ahead, Jim. Go ahead, Jim. Because, unfortunately, the people who really need it don't get it because of all the people who are ripping off the system. That's not true. So, I mean, sorry, lady, but, you know, you're delusional. All right. All right. Jim, you want to respond, though, that some people are on? I'll tell them very quickly. I'm not delusional, and I try not to call people's names. Yeah. And you have the right to your opinion. But I don't think we should live in a country where we deny people food, okay, where we restrict access to food. It's not the right thing. People do sell food stamp cards usually to pay for their cell phone or their sanitary napkins, those kinds of things, because they're not covered by food stamps. I think you just don't know enough about this situation to have an opinion but I certainly respect the fact that you're wrong. How much time do I have? Uh, you know what, I've got two minutes. Okay, uh let's take another call. Okay, uh Betsy from Detroit, you're on Detroit Talk City. Hello Betsy, is Betsy there? Okay, why were we waiting for Betsy? Let me just ask you, Jim's call though, he said about the work requirement, how long can someone be on SNAP benefits in certain places? throughout the country, Vermont is one of them, People can stay on benefits around food until they're on their feet. And folks don't want to be on food stamps all their lives. That's some of those welfare myths. And those things are not true. People should be able to work, find a job, stay on food stamps until they can feed themselves. This is not rocket science. There should not be a number. You can stay on it for a month or two months or three months. Maybe you need more time. Maybe you need less time. Do you have an average of how many people that are getting SNAP benefits? How long they actually get the benefits? I saw the figures. I don't know exactly what they said, but it was fewer than six months. All right. Let's take a text right here, Maureen. I understand the rigorous requirements surrounding SNAP benefits and the reasons some individuals are denied assistance here in Michigan. However, I also believe greater scrutiny needs to be placed on individuals who deliberately misrepresent their ability to work falsify their working hours or otherwise manipulate the system to receive benefits that they may not be entitled to, I agree with that. Anybody who's telling a story anybody who's fabricating information and whatnot, we should look at that situation and we should let that go. That individual should be punished for that but that's not what we're talking about here we're talking about 167,000 people who have dropped off 53,000 of them are children we should not allow food to be restricted hold that thought Maureen Taylor we will be back the zoom room is open as well uh is it too difficult to get food benefits get into the zoom room right now eight nine two four nine oh nine oh two nine oh we'll take a quick break your calls when we come back fit right in back to Detroit Talk City I'm your host Charlie Light and our food stamps being misused. That's our discussion today. Text us, call us, 313-765-8844. You can also go into the Zoom room as well, 892-4909-0290. Maureen Taylor is here, the chair of the Welfare Rights Organization. Let's go to the Zoom room right now. Tamiko Jefferson from Detroit. You're on Detroit Talk City. Hello Miss Tamiko Hey, how y'all doing this afternoon? Good, good. Good, good. Yes, I called in because I think that some people do misuse the food stamps, but a lot of us need this help. I'm a full-time student at Afton Institute, and I had not worked in, like, maybe 10 years. I had a stroke in 2013, and I decided to go back to school for myself, better myself. I don't want no food stamps no more, Medicaid or nothing like that. I don't want nothing. I just want to be independent, you know? And, yes, I'm living on my own now. This is a challenge for me. But I think $8.60 a day is not fair. It's not fair. Thank you, Ms. Tomiko. Yes, I was just getting food stamps like four months ago, and I hope they don't cut them off before I finish school. Tomiko, thank you so much for sharing your story. I appreciate that. And good luck to you. It looks like things are going well for her. Thank you, Tomiko. Thank you, Tomiko. Thank you. And she's right. $6 a day is outrageous. Scandalous. All right, let's go to the phone calls. Erin from Detroit. You're on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Erin. Where's Erin? Do we have Erin? Hello. There's Erin. Hello, Erin. No, it's Karen. Oh, Karen. I'm sorry, Karen. That's okay, Karen. That's okay. I love you, Charlie Latham. I love you, and I miss you on the weekends, first and foremost. Second of all, I was on welfare when I was 17 years old when my father put me out and I was in the upper class of Detroit and ended up being in the Cass Corridor and had to get on food stamps. Back in the day, you had to go see a worker, you had to get a form, and you had to bring it in monthly of the different places you went to to apply for a job or apply for a school before you were granted the food stamps. That's right. They asked you if you had any children, this, any other. I didn't have any children. I ended up going to school. I ended up doing great for myself. I did not want to be on welfare. I was embarrassed to be on it. I ended up working at Cash United Methodist Church and passing out food and everything. And it's a survival thing. Karen, I hate to do this to you, but what a great story. And thank you for calling. I'm running against the clock over here. But she's got a great story. Most people don't want to be on the food stamps. They want to get off. Nobody does. Karen, I come from Cairns, United Methodist Church, down there with Ed Rowe. Oh, yeah. So I understand this, and really, her story is so indicative of everybody. Nobody wants to be on it. But if you're going to be on food stamps, don't insult anybody with $6 a day. Maureen Taylor, State Chair of the Michigan Welfare Rights, thank you so much. Appreciate that, as always. All right. We are going to, coming up this next half hour, Are black residents being pushed out of the city of Detroit? We'll talk about that next on Detroit Talk City. Hi, Detroit Talk City. I'm your host, Charlie Light. And I still look on this half hour. Is Detroit experiencing black flight from the dollar to the people? Detroit has seen a decrease over the years, but what's the cause? Keith Williams is here. He's from the Black Caucus, and he'll tell us why. But here is our poll question one more time. Is Detroit's comeback forcing black residents out? Just scan the QR code. It's right down there. We'll give you the results later on in the show. And this show is all about hearing from you, the viewer. We just want to have a conversation, and we want to know what you think. So you can text us. You can call us. The number, 313-765-8844. You can jump in the Zoom room as well. Our meeting ID number there, 892-4909-0290. and, of course, on social media. Hashtag us at Detroit Talk City. All right, Keith Williams is here. How you doing? You are doing, look at that, how fancy you are. God is good. It is, everything good. Listen, you're chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, the Black Caucus. You're also chair of the Detroit Reparations Committee. Co-chair, co-chair. It's been disbanded now. Because you filled out your report. Yeah, the whole process went through its process. Now it's sitting in the city council's lap. You gave it to him a year ago. A year ago. Has there anything- I've been following up with them. James Tate has been a meter motor, a meter motor microphone calls. They say they're going to get a meeting with me. But reparations is part of this, is a major part of Detroit, right? Yes. You know, I was very, you got to give me some credit for this. The first time in the history of this country, I put a ballot initiative on reparations and it went by 80% of the vote. 2021, you got it. And then you formed your committee, you became the co-chair of the committee, you have a report, I don't know how many pages it is. City Council has it right now, but they've had it for a year. Well, I did what I was supposed to do, although there was some acrimony through that process, okay? You know, we had some intellectuals. I'm not mad at intellectuals. They was writing for the history books, and I was writing for the pocketbook. Well, we can talk about reparations because it's all part of this whole thing. It's all part of the whole deal. It's all part of the whole situation. But part of your recommendations is that it's a cat. First of all, requirements. You've got to be 21. You have to be a descendant of a slave. And you have to be a resident of Detroit for 20 years. Those are the big ones, right? Yes. Those are the big ones, okay? You also say a cash payment of some kind. Well, yeah, there should be some cash payment. To me, I want future growth. I want home ownership. I want to own businesses and things like that. You know, that's where we, you know, and my colleagues, They have their opinion. I have my opinion. See, I'm writing for the pocketbooks, and I get that about cash payments, but I want to rebuild city. I want to rebuild these neighborhoods, rebuild our schools and things like that. As I understand it, there's a housing grant. You can get some money for a down payment up to $40,000. I mean, there's some specifics about it, but it's not just if you want to start a business, you can get up to $100,000 grant, that type of thing. Yes. Who's going to pay for all this? Who's going to pay for the Renaissance center. Well, that's private money. No, they get government grants too. They get rebates. They get money. So if they can get rebates then why can't the folks that suffer But you're going to ask the state of Michigan for reparations for Detroit? It's a state representative in White Lake. A white state representative that that or a senator to pay for reparations. So I came up with an idea called Hope Zones. Helping prosperity. Helping people prosper everywhere. And basically what it is is is hope zones which you do you take a geographical area in the city of Detroit and let them capture the tax and pay for their future yes in a way okay we got a 17 bill package in the state legislature right now but it's going through its process and so when johnson benson comes to um come to become the governor hopefully she'll take the hope zone package but you still need state you need the legislature this is a caveat to it oh okay okay it's an it's it's It's a race-neutral bill. Well, but you're talking about, you're capturing tax dollars. I'm capturing tax dollars. And they're capturing the tax from property taxes? From property taxes, freezing, payroll tax, in that geographical area. You take that money and reinvest in those neighborhoods. If you need a roof, you can use that money. If you want job training, you can use that money. You've got to pick an area of Detroit, though. But then what about the police department? What about the schools? Are they going to keep the schools getting their taxes? Hold on. I mean, the city is going to take the brother. I also came up with my own economic theory. Yeah. When you invest in people, called upside economics, people grow the economy. Well, yes. Yes, okay. Look what they've been selling us. You get a rich man, all the money is going to trickle down to us. Haven't been told through our generation. That's why all these tax cuts come in. Do you think conceptually that black people, because the stats are here. Black people are leaving Detroit. 9% decrease, and they're moving to the suburbs. Yeah, let me just say this to you. You believe the numbers, though, right? You know, whoever wrote the numbers, whoever came up with the numbers, I got to be suspect. But there's going to be some, you know, how these posters and all these statistics, they come up with all these different crazy numbers. But it has been, let's look at the whole history now, man. Yeah. We came here in 1929. Well, let's not go back that far, though. Okay. But you see the developments in Detroit, though, right? Are there a lot of black people living in there? I still, hold on, guess what? I could live anywhere. You make a lot of money, though. Hold on. You make a lot of money. Listen to this. I live on Hartwell and 7th, my wife. Okay? Good. We got African-Americans, folks that have been interested in those communities that are still there. All right. Hold that thought. Okay, we're going to get here. We've got a lot more. Okay. We do want to hear from you. Is Detroit's comeback forcing black residents out of Detroit? Text us, call us, 313-765-8844. We'll get to your questions live on the air. Detroit Talk City is back after this break. Detroit Talk City is Detroit's comeback forcing black residents out. You can text us. You can call us, 313-765-8844. I'm your host, Charlie Lightfoot. All right, we're with Keith Williams. Keith Williams, he's got a lot of hats, including that nice one there. This is Stetson. Stetson, I know. He's the Democratic Party chair of the Black Caucus, as well as the co-chair of the reparations Former co-chair. Former co-chair. Committee's gone. Yes. Let me have you come back. Let's take some calls, all right? Yeah. Delmar from Detroit. You're on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Delmar. Hello, Charlie. Thanks for having me. Love your show. Been watching you for a long time. Thank you, Delmar. I was raised and born in Detroit. Can you hear me? Yes, yes. Okay. I'm sorry. I had my TV down. But I was born and raised in Detroit, on the east side of Detroit. Family of six, my mother raised it. I love this city. All my sisters decided to move out of this state to Texas, except for me. I love the Four Seasons. But this city, I knew that that riverfront, if the right person, Lake Michigan, if the riverfront in downtown Detroit would become like a world destination city like Chicago. I took my wife to Chicago once a month, Lake Shore Drive, just to enjoy that Lake Michigan. But now I told my pastor, within 2030, it's going to be a world destination. My prayer is coming true. They're not forcing black people out. They're not going to force me out. That's a bunch of whatever. I'm staying here, and that's not—they're not forcing people out. All right, Delmar, thank you. Thank you for staying as well. You find that, that people are being forced out? No, I'm just telling you, I'm not mad at downtown, okay? The growth is needed. But Renaissance is getting too big a bite at the apple now, okay? The Renaissance Center. The Renaissance Center, okay. Are you upset they're getting about $400 million from the state of Michigan? You know, I'm not going to count somebody else's blessings, but the bottom line is it's got to be shared, okay? While you're working downtown, we need to grow the neighborhoods, too, in the process. I hold that thought, Keith Williams. We do want to hear from you. We've got, I'm going to get to your calls and your texts. Is Detroit's comeback forcing black residents out? 313-765-8844. You are watching Detroit Talk City. Back after this. WallSide. Detroit Talk City. Is Detroit's comeback forcing black residents out? Text us or call us. 313-765-8844. Jump in the Zoom room as well. 892-4909-0290. Keith Williams is with us here, chair of the Democratic Party, the Black Caucus, and the co-chair of the... Former co-chair. Former co-chair of the Reparations Committee. Yes, there's a report there. I don't know when it's coming out, but there is a report. All right, let's go to the phones, all right? Victoria from Westland here on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Victoria. Hello. I was calling to comment about the black plight. I was born and raised in Detroit. I love Detroit, but it kind of cost me too much to live there. I could not. My homeowner's insurance was extremely high. That is bad. My car insurance was extremely high. And now with the things that's going on downtown, it's like the parking is just too much downtown. I came down to there for my granddaughter's graduation. and it's just like it's just too expensive for me and then trust me i earned a good salary and it's still too expensive yeah and that's why you left detroit and it looks like you're in westland right now this is getting expensive she's got a point though it's getting expensive all around the country look at the prices they talk about affordability to black folks it's accessibility but the cost of insurance yes that's an ongoing thing insurance that's been an ongoing thing for the last 30, 40 years. It's the legislature. We got to elect the right people who are going to have a feeling for Detroit. All right. Shelly from Westland, you're on Detroit Talks. Hey, you know what my take on this is? Yes, Shelly. You know what? It's the development of downtown Detroit. There seems to be a large divide anymore. There's no middle class in Detroit anymore it's either you're sitting on a bankroll or you're sitting in the dirt and i mean really if you can name me one neighborhood that has a middle class neighborhood which is a safe place to live and the taxes the taxes in detroit are outrageous you if you god forbid you work in the city too you're getting double double you're getting double trouble and your car insurance homeowners insurance it's not affordable i don't care what color you are i mean it's really unfortunate i grew up in the city i love the city my heart will always be in the city of detroit but it's a development and like i said there's there's either it's either you're sitting on a bankroll or you're sitting in the dirt all right shelly thank you for that uh what about the income tax in detroit is that uh is that is that a problem does that prevent people from living you know i'm listening to these folks okay i live in a great neighborhood it's called greenwich from greenfield university district if it's so bad i don't want to make this a race thing but listen to this charlie you go down auto drive you see white folks with their dogs walking down the out of drive all the time you see um other folks coming moving in my like i told you down the street for me some uh some uh hispanic folks are buying houses if detroit was so bad then why people want to invest their money in housing and it's the Detroit and nice and areas of yeah we got some bad areas but i could take you around the suburbs they got bad areas too yeah yeah okay you'd buy in detroit you just sold a house in Detroit went, oh, my, I got a good return. You made money, right? I made money, man. You can buy. That's why you should be buying. Detroit is a golden opportunity. All right, let's go to Gary from Brownstown here on Detroit Talk City. Hello, Gary. Hello, gentlemen. How are we doing today? Doing good. Good. Good, good. I'm a white guy from the suburbs, but, Mr. Williams, I grew up in Detroit. I used to hang out there when my grandparents lived there, you know, and have some very fond memories and uh my grandfather started a uh a business in 1930 and i'm proud to say it's still in uh family owned today by our family i'll be 100 years old in 2030 in southwest detroit near mexican town yes so you know that's a lot of growth over there sir volunteer for the red cross and 100 matt and woodward for about 20 years back in the day but uh my question is you know the last three years or so they're saying the population of Detroit is increasing by various sources one source said the black population is about 480,000 another source said the black population is 500 about 510,000 you know a significant increase uh so I'm wondering what what you have as far as input on the accuracy of that and and with the new mayor Mary Sheffield you know she's seems like she's doing everything she can to to bring black people back and you know make them feel wanted and make their standard of living higher with all these housing programs, you know, working on education. So what would you say about that, sir? Thank you, Gary. I appreciate the call. What do you think? I just think Detroit is a golden opportunity. Mary's bringing a new, fresh look to a situation that's got some hope. But what I'm saying, I look at it like this, Charlie. There is folks that are moving. Yeah, they're moving. But there's folks that want to stay, too. And so the most important thing in this whole process is the schools. Yeah. The schools. John Engler and Mr. Rogers destroyed. They came after, remember, they took over the schools back in the 90s. I remember. And he's running for Senate now. Okay, I didn't want to make this political. They destroyed. You are chair of the Democratic Party, though, so I get it. They put, it was like a death knell to the growth. Because Detroit at one time, Detroit Public Schools was the largest employer of the middle class in Detroit. Yeah. And when you tear down a school, you tear down a neighborhood. You think the governor has an input on the schools? Yes. John Engler did it. Well, why hasn't the governor done anything now? Well, you know, everybody's got their own political ideas. What should the governor do? What should the governor do to help fix the schools? because if you don't have infrastructure infrastructure stop tearing down schools put money into these schools they're building the new Pershing they're building some new schools to make more of make make the situation more tax dollars in the school again you got to convince every single legislator, I'm not saying it's wrong but you have to, let's take a couple calls here Reginald from Belleville, you're on Detroit Talk City, hello Reginald, how you doing today? Good I am calling to let you know this conversation that you're having right now reminds me of Ann Arbor, of west side of Ann Arbor. How the black people were pushed out of that community over there and how it is so expensive over there to live now. I associate with Detroit a lot. I come there a lot. I agree with the other lady that was on here about parking. You can't even go to a baseball game, and you have to spend almost $500 just to take your kid to a game to enjoy. I think it's ridiculous, and I think that as a community for Detroit, like the old saying, let's raise a village. The village will help each other. People need to work for the city to work, and it's very important for that. Yeah, you're making a good point there. Thank you. He's got a good point. He has a good point. To me, I'm running this campaign called Faith, Family, and Opportunities. Faith drives us, family keeps us, and opportunity grows us. That's what Detroit used to be, and it can still be a city of families, you know, educating, making money, and living out the American dream. Let's go to Linda from Canton. Hello, Linda. You're on Detroit Talk City. Uh-oh, is Linda there? Yes, I'm here. I would like to say I agree with a lot of what Mr. Williams is saying. Detroit is a golden opportunity. The problem is it's not a golden opportunity for everyone. New money, yes. Affordable housing from downtown Detroit to Grand Boulevard does not include everyday middle-class working people. Once you get beyond Grand Boulevard, between Henry Ford Hospital, buying up everything in all the neighborhoods, and Wayne State University, they've even bought up the area that I grew up in, the Jeffrey Projects. Homes being built in that area start at over $400,000. That is not affordable living for everyday people like myself. Is Linda right? The city right now, Detroit is a tale of three cities, downtown, midtown, and the rest of the town. But the rest of the town has got golden opportunities. There's a lot of housing over there. There's a lot of, there's some great opportunities. While y'all running, the opportunities is right between Livermores to Telegraph, from 8 Mile to Grand River. There's some golden opportunities. There's opportunities. Can I get Tony here from Detroit real quick? Tony on Detroit Talk City, real quick, Tony. Yes, I wanted to say that I'm a resident of Detroit for over 60 years. I'm a contractor, so I get a chance to see firsthand how the city is doing and what kind of people are affording these homes. But what I'm saying, after you get so old, I'm 60 now, but my house is paid for, and I've had a house I just sold, and I made out doing that as well. But what about those people who aren't as fortunate as me and Mr. Williams up there speaking? You know, we have to consider, again, I said, car insurance is high. And then when you buy your house and you pay for your house, each of y'all got to pay these high property taxes in order to keep my house. All right. Thank you, Tony. I appreciate it. Real quick, you want to wrap up your thoughts here? What can Detroit do to encourage people to stay in Detroit? You know, keep doing what they're doing. You know, crime is one issue, but crime is an issue throughout the cities of America. but all I'm saying is we can do it for a night but joy will come up in the morning there's some joy in Detroit Keith Williams I appreciate it stay with us the results of our poll when we come back Detroit Talk City now it is the time for the results of our poll our question of the day again is Detroit's comeback forcing black residents out of the city and here is what you are saying 57% of you say no they're not forcing black residents Thank you.