In previous editions of the Stater, an editorial claimed, without evidence, that small towns are “cultivating racism.” Within that editorial, according to a member of the Student Senate, lines were taken out of context to show that the interviewee believed that Wayne State College, and the town are “cultivating racism.”

Flat on its face, the idea is ludicrous. It is actually urban, metro cities that have struggled with the historical (and ongoing) consequences of “white flight” and the consequential systemic poverty that stems from it. Take the City of Detroit, Michigan for an example.

After the U.S. civil war, in what is known as the great migration, 1.5 million African Americans, most of whom were free slaves or the descendants of freed slaves, left the south in search of a better life, free from the tyranny of Jim Crow in the years to follow.

While the northern states were perhaps more receptive, given that the 1.5 million migrants weren’t immediately subjected to sharecropping or indentured servitude in the north, their living conditions deteriorated quickly. Areas that now reliably vote for left-wing politicians also happen to be the areas where white flight is occurring today.

These claims are backed by history, as well as the political shakedown of the modern age. This is not to say that there aren’t racist people from small towns, or that small towns don’t have specific, identifiable systems that are prejudiced. The history shows that in fact, large urban areas are the breeding ground for racial division in the United States.  

EDITORS NOTE: We are unsure what was taken out of context, as claimed by Aspen. If there was an error we would be happy to run a correction.