Mayor Coleman Young views his city

Coleman Young was famous for the blunt statements he sometimes used publicly because they were often peppered with profanity. He said, “Swearing is an art form. You can express yourself much more exactly, much more succinctly, with properly used curse words.” His words were often quoted in magazines and newspapers exactly and succinctly the way he expressed them—pulling no punches and no holes barred. He was also known as the social and political powerbroker who served five terms—the longest ever—as the mayor of Detroit, Michigan, at the end of the Civil Rights Era when Black people were beginning to rise in the political world.

Young had been a lieutenant in the United States Air Force serving as a bombardier and navigator in the 477th Medium-Bomber Group, better known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Those airmen belonged to a group of 162 African-Americans officers who were arrested for resisting segregation at a military base in Indiana in 1945. In the annals of military history, it became known as the Freeman Field Mutiny.

Born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on May 24, 1918, to William and Ida Young, he was the eldest of five children. The family moved to Detroit in 1923 to escape the harsh realities of racial injustices that were prevalent in the South. However, they soon realized that racial hostility and social upheaval, though less overt, were just as prevalent in the North.

Young began his education in the Detroit Public School system and then transferred to St. Mary’s Catholic School. Being one of the few Blacks enrolled in the school, he encountered his first set of racial experiences but was reportedly able to deal with them based on the messages he had received from his parents. Those early racial confrontations alerted him to the political and social standings of Blacks. It also prepared him for a future where he would have to fight for racial equality in all of his meaningful endeavors.

Despite excellent academic achievement, Young was denied a scholarship to the University of Detroit High School and eventually returned to the public school system. After graduating from Eastern High School in 1935, he was offered a scholarship to the University of Michigan. Though he was qualified to attend, the high school alumni declined to assist him financially, which had been their custom. Preference was given instead to help poor White students and Young’s family was unable to afford the difference in his tuition.

Published in : News, Legends