马丁路德金博士的生日是美国唯一的以个人命名的国家假日，他领导的非暴力民权运动催生了美国的民权法案(Civil Rights Act, 1964)，今天的美国在法律层面不允许任何基于种族，肤色，宗教，性别，出生国，性取向等的歧视，就是受惠于民权法案。金博士的故事网上随处可见，这里只讲他与汽车城底特律的交集。
今天的底特律给人的印象通常是破败萧条，犯罪之都。1950年时底特律却是全美第四大城市，闻名世界的汽车城，人口185万，其中白人83.58%， 黑人16.25%。到1960年时，因为汽车公司向底特律郊区扩张和交通的便利，许多白人开始离开底特律市住到条件更好的郊区。由于当时的种族隔离政策（住房上有臭名昭著的红线政策Red Lining，不许黑人在白人社区租房或买房，金融公司也不给黑人贷款），黑人人口虽然增加很快，却很难租房或买房，被迫挤在狭小的黑人区，公共服务也很缺乏，警察针对黑人的暴行经常发生。1961年，反对种族隔离的白人Jerome Cavanagh当选底特律市长，上任伊始他就任命了改革派警察局长，试图减少警察针对黑人的暴行。上世纪六十年代正是民权运动如火如荼之时，云集了将近50万黑人的底特律自然是金博士活动的重镇。1963年6月23日，卡瓦纳市长与金博士一起参加了底特律走向自由的大游行，大约12万5千人参加了这次史无前例的和平游行，金博士发表了重要的演说。这次游行被史学家们认为是两个月后华盛顿游行（20-30万人参加了这次游行，并导致了1964年2月民权法案的通过）的预演，在1963年8月28日的华盛顿游行中，金博士做了“我有一个梦”的著名演讲。两次演讲的词句有很多相似之处（见下表，左为底特律演说，右为华盛顿演讲）
| "Almost one hundred and one years ago, on September the 22nd, 1862, to be exact, a great and noble American, Abraham Lincoln, signed an executive order, which was to take effect on January the first, 1863. This executive order was called the Emancipation Proclamation and it served to free the Negro from the bondage of physical slavery. But one hundred years later, the Negro in the United States of America still isn't free." [7] | "Fivescore years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation […] But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination."[8] |
| "And so we must say, now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to transform this pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our nation. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of racial justice." [7] | "Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood."[8] |
| "And so this afternoon, I have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream […] I have a dream that one day, right down in Georgia and Mississippi and Alabama, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to live together as brothers. I have a dream this afternoon that one day, one day little white children and little Negro children will be able to join hands as brothers and sisters […] I have a dream this afternoon that my four little children, that my four little children will not come up in the same young days that I came up within, but they will be judged on the basis of the content of their character, not the color of their skin… I have a dream this evening that one day we will recognize the words of Jefferson that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and "every valley shall be exalted, and every hill shall be made low; the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together." […] And with this faith I will go out and carve a tunnel of hope through the mountain of despair. With this faith, I will go out with you and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. With this faith, we will be able to achieve this new day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing with the Negroes in the spiritual of old: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!" [7] | "I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character […] I have a dream that one day "every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low; the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together." […] With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood… And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"[8] |
在我看来，金博士领导的民权运动在美国得到了各阶层各族裔的广泛支持，就在于消除歧视人人平等是每个有良知的人的自然渴望，非暴力抗争的实践也赢得了人们的尊重。现在的黑命贵运动想用打砸抢烧的手段为黑人赢得更多的福利和特殊照顾，只能让别的族裔对黑人更加反感，底特律过去60年的历史已经证明这一点。
且说一心想为黑人办事的卡瓦纳市长，因为缓和了种族矛盾，降低了失业率，1965年高票连任。当时底特律的黑人40%拥有自己的住房，失业率3.4%，这两项指标都是全美城市黑人中最好的。1966年他参加了约翰逊总统发起的模范城市项目（Model Cities Program），这项试验准备用五年时间在150个城市推行各种旨在消除贫困改善市政的措施。底特律是参与该项目最大的城市之一，获得了4亿9千万美元的联邦拨款，市民们（无论白人黑人）组成公民管理董事会利用这笔钱改善市政设施，修建廉价住房，提升经济。正当卡瓦纳市长踌躇满志地准备大干一场时，1967年的黑人暴乱彻底断送了底特律的前途。
1967年7月23日（周日）凌晨3：45分，警察突袭了底特律12街的一家无照酒馆， 逮捕了全部在场的82人。警察离开后，酒馆周围的看客们开始抢劫，然后参与抢劫的人越来越多，有些白人也参加了，底特律大乱。当时底特律市和密西根州的警力已无法平息暴乱，应州长罗姆尼和卡瓦纳市长的要求，约翰逊总统派出了82和101两个空降师对底特律实行军管才稳住了阵脚。这次历时五天的暴乱造成43人死亡（33个黑人，10个白人）, 7200多人被捕，5000多人无家可归， 2509家商铺被抢，412栋建筑被彻底烧毁。暴乱过后，白人纷纷逃离底特律，很多人甚至弃房而逃，至今在底特律市里还能看到不少没有门窗的废弃房屋。到2010年，底特律总人口71万（1950年时185万），其中黑人59万，占比83%，犯罪率常年名列全美第一。
虽然黑人的暴力抗议赢得了一些政策福利，但并没有彻底改变黑人的命运，有些福利政策还导致黑人更加堕落，如给单亲妈妈的福利导致70%的黑人孩子出生在单亲家庭里。在底特律经常看到一个黑人母亲带着五六个不同父亲的孩子靠吃福利生活，这样家庭的孩子们长大后也只能继续吃福利。可惜金博士1968年被暗杀后，再无有远见的黑人领袖提出建设性的主张促进种族融合，大家合作共赢。
顺便说一句，2010年后，在政府和许多社会力量的努力下，底特律在慢慢复兴，大家不要再用老眼光看底特律了。
