Young, Coleman 1918–

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Coleman Young 1918–

Mayor of Detroit

The feisty and colorful Coleman Alexander Young is now serving an unprecedented fifth term as mayor of the city of Detroit. Not one to shy from unpleasant tasks, Young presides over an urban area beset with problems, from rampant crime to high unemployment to ever-dwindling population. He is an outspoken and opinionated man whose strongly-worded views have earned him both passionate supporters and bitter enemies, both in his city and nationwide. Opinions aside, however, few would argue with a Detroit Free Press editorial in which Young was characterized as “a successful mayor and a consummate politician who has put what’s good for Detroit—or, more exactly, what Coleman Young thinks is good for Detroit—above all else.”

During 1990 both Detroit and its mayor were targets of highly critical feature stories in the New York Times and on national television. Much has been written about Detroit’s sagging economy and brutal crime statistics, its “white flight” to the suburbs and its general air of despair. Young does not see his city in that light. Under his administration, the city has managed to balance its budget despite a dramatic cutback in federal and state aid. A number of its neighborhoods have undergone renovation, and at least one new automobile manufacturing plant has opened within the city limits. As Frank Washington put it in Newsweek, “any other incumbent mayor could ride comfortably into re-election on [Young’s] record.”

Young defended his agenda in the Detroit Free Press: “Today, the big debate is whether the country’s heading into another damned depression—the truth of the matter is, Detroit never came out of depression. Since I’ve been mayor, our unemployment level has been twice the national average. That is why we need to take radical steps to preserve this city—but this city is worth preserving. It has all the natural assets that it needs to make it: its geographical location, the strength of character of its people…. You pool all these people who have a heritage of struggle and you have a powerful force. This city will not be overcome.”

Coleman Young is certainly a Detroiter with a “heritage of struggle.” He was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and spent most of his early years in Huntsville, where his family was sometimes terrorized by the Ku Klux Klan.

At a Glance…

Full name, Coleman Alexander Young; born May 24, 1918, in Tuscaloosa, AL; son of Coleman (a dry cleaning shop owner) and Ida Reese (Jones) Young; married and divorced twice. Education: High school graduate.

Assembly line worker at Ford Motor Company, c. 1939–40, and United States Postal Service, c. 1940-42 and c. 1947–50; insurance salesman, c. 1957–64. Member of Michigan State Senate, 1964–73, became Democratic floor leader and Michigan representative on the Democratic National Committee. Mayor of Detroit, 1974—. Military service: Army Air Corps, c. 1942–46; became second lieutenant and bombadier–navigator.

Addresses: Office—Detroit City County Building, Detroit, MI 48226.

Like many black Americans, Young’s father eventually moved the family north, to Detroit, in search of a more congenial environment and better economic opportunity. Young’s family settled in the Black Bottom section of Detroit in the late 1920s, and his father opened a small dry cleaning business. In an interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Young remembered that his old neighborhood “was a cohesive community, a mixture of working-[and] middle–class people. In many ways it was more secure and comfortable than today’s communities.”

Young is almost silent on his private life, his early years included. An aide, Joyce Garrett, told the Detroit Free Press that the mayor had a difficult childhood that accounts for his solitary character today. “The mayor never grew up in what we would call a normal, middle–class family situation,” Garrett said; “that has made quite a difference in that he doesn’t care about home, really.” Despite excellent grades in public school, Young was denied financial aid to the University of Michigan due to his race. Unable to attend college, he was forced to go to work to help support his four brothers and sisters. In the late 1930s he enrolled in an apprentice electrician program at the Ford Motor Company. He finished first in the program but was passed over for the only available electrician job in favor of a white candidate.

Lobbied for Equal Treatment

In the early 1940s Young took a job on the Ford Assembly line and became an underground union organizer and civil rights activist. Within his first few months on the job he became the target for racial slurs by “company goons,” leading eventually to a fistfight that caused him to be fired. He continued his union activities when he earned a position with the post office, and by the time he was drafted to the Second World War he was well known in Detroit for demanding equal employment and fair treatment for blacks in the automobile industry. During the war Young served with the Tuskegee Airmen, an elite black flying unit. He became a second lieutenant and flew missions as a bombardier-navigator. Near the end of the war he was one of several black officers who were arrested and jailed for demanding service at a segregated officers’ club. The incident generated a great deal of publicity, and the Army eventually integrated the club.

Young returned to Detroit after the war and drifted from job to job for nearly a decade. His principal interest during the 1950s was union organizing, and he also campaigned for the Progressive Party. During that decade he also founded the National Negro Labor Council, an organization devoted to civil rights in the workplace. Young’s projects on behalf of black workers brought him to the attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee, who investigated him for possible Communist ties. Called to testify in Washington, D.C., Young refused to answer questions about his Negro Labor Council, and he disbanded the organization rather than turn its membership list over to the United States Attorney General. The adverse publicity made it quite difficult for Young to find and keep a job in Detroit, but it did not quell his spirit or dampen his enthusiasm for the cause of civil rights.

Toward the end of the 1950s Young began to have some success as an insurance salesman, and he became active in the Democratic party. In 1960 he was elected a delegate to the Michigan Constitutional Convention. Gradually Young gained popularity in Detroit, and in 1964 he won a seat in the state senate. He quickly proved to be a strong legislator in Lansing, fighting for open housing legislation and for busing to integrate public schools. His liberal views and pro-labor stance won him many supporters in the Democratic party, and he received a wide base of support in Detroit from the black clergy and the unions.

Won First Mayoral Election

Young declared his candidacy for mayor in 1973 and mounted a vigorous campaign for the office. He finished second in a nonpartisan primary election and faced stiff competition from John F. Nichols, a white police commissioner. While Nichols ran on a standard “law-and-order” platform, Young maintained that blacks were being treated with undue brutality by the city’s policemen. He promised that his administration would maintain order without repressive tactics, bringing better racial relations to a region under strain. The election was decided by a mere 17,000 votes. Young won, taking 92 percent of the black vote. Nichols carried more than 91 percent of the white vote.

“We are going to turn this city around,” Young promised in his inaugural address. The new mayor called for a coalition of business and labor to preserve the industries remaining in Detroit and attract new ones. He also set about reforming the police department, adding more black officers and promoting those already in the ranks. He saw to it that all police officers—indeed, all of Detroit’s civil servants—were required to live within the city limits, and he opened neighborhood “mini-stations” in high crime areas. William Beckham, formerly young’s deputy mayor, told the Detroit Free Press that the early years of the Young administration were marked by a sense of struggle against a common enemy. “When Coleman took office, he was fighting [to reform] the Police Department, fighting federal cutbacks and the recession—real big enemies,” Beckham said. “This is still a strong administration because of its foundations. But it has lots of pitfalls based on its longevity.”

Young has won every election since 1973 by a wide margin. He is the only mayor in the history of Detroit to serve five consecutive terms—indeed, some reporters note that he is “mayor for life.” A close ally and political adviser to president Jimmy Carter, Young turned down a cabinet position in Washington, D.C. in order to remain in Detroit. Needless to say, the salty mayor has been a vocal critic of the Reagan and Bush administrations, with their massive cutbacks in federal aid to urban areas. Nor has the federal government remained sanguine about Coleman Young. His administration has been investigated on more than six different charges, including improprieties in the awarding of city contracts and illegal personal use of city funds by the police department. Young himself has never been personally implicated in the scandals, however, and his popularity has been undiminished—some might even say enhanced—by the publicity.

Helped City Rejuvenate

Mayor Young can point to a number of improvements in Detroit since he took office. Expansion of riverfront attractions has brought convention and tourist traffic to the city, and favorable tax abatements have attracted new businesses, including two major automobile plants. Young would like to see more diversification in the region’s employment profile, noting that the automobile industry is prone to cyclical layoffs. Even his most vocal critics admit that Young is a tireless worker for his city who has the area’s best interests at heart. As Patricia Edmonds put it in the Detroit Free press, “There is little Young likes more than talking deals for his city.”

A number of daunting problems remain for Detroit, chief among them its dwindling population. Middle-class flight to the suburbs continues, robbing the city’s coffers of essential tax revenue. Some critics argue that Young has contributed to this phenomenon by promoting the idea that suburban dwellers are hostile or indifferent to the city’s woes. Indeed, in recent years Young has endured a barrage of disapproval in the press for his management style—which is described as autocratic—his blunt language, and his concentration on cosmetic improvements while city’s core decays. Young makes no apologies for his methods or his style. “I’m not seeking to stay in office by being a Teflon goddam mayor, taking positions to enhance my popularity,” he told Newsweek.

Young told the Detroit Free Press that he considered retirement in 1985 but hasn’t since. He feels that he has a great deal of unfinished business to attend to in Detroit, and that he can indeed turn the city around. He characterized his years at the top as “very positive,” adding: “What I set out to do has been done and is taking place.” On the other hand, he said, “It’s been in crisis constantly. And sure it wears me out. But when you get into a fight with a damned bear, you don’t get tired until the bear gets tired. If you do, it’s your a—. You can’t afford to quit, can you?”