Seeking “Self-Determination” in Detroit: Housing,Race,and the Activism of the West Central Organization,1964-1971

Abstract

This essay examines the advocacy efforts of the West Central Organization (WCO), which was established in 1964 to protect Detroit neighborhoods that were historically mostly white but were becoming increasingly Black. Seeking “self-determination” for citizens, the WCO’s communications campaigns attracted media and administrative attention to housing crises caused by urban renewal policies. Drawing on literature and news stories published by and about the WCO, this essay focuses on political battles the WCO picked with Detroit Mayor Jerome Cavanagh and Wayne State University. The WCO garnered a small measure of political power and managed to alter urban renewal policies—before the WCO’s confrontational tactics turned white mainstream press outlets and public opinion against the organization. Ultimately, the WCO’s white leadership and race-blind approach to organizing mitigated its effectiveness in the wake of the 1967 Rebellion, when Black leaders confronted racial discrimination, policy brutality, and other systemic issues that continue in present-day Detroit.