And Thus is Born Miniature Detroit

“Do not rebuild in #Ferguson,” Don Surber writes:

From a kid who survived the Hough Riots in Cleveland nearly a half century ago, some unsolicited advice to the business owners in Ferguson, Missouri: Do not bother rebuilding. Your customers do not want you. They tore up your stores — twice. And after one of them robbed a store. These are not protests. They are pogroms aimed at the middle class. Take the insurance money and run.

Police officers, too, should leave. Why risk a criminal trial or worse for doing your job?

Homeowners, too. Black, white, Asian, Hispanic — it does not matter. You are middle class. They do not want you. Leave.

Zev Chafets’ brilliant Devil’s Night is a time machine — written 25 years ago; it’s not only an excellent look at life in post-riot Detroit, but its vignettes are a preview of Ferguson about five years or so from now.