Where is eight mile

Eight Mile exists as a physical dividing line, as well as a de-facto psychological and cultural boundary for the region. Although African-Americans live in communities north of Eight Mile, the sense of separation between the two areas still remains. Along its most impoverished sections, Eight Mile Road has, for several decades, been a destitute, dangerous strip of suffering businesses and broken windows.

The two neighbourhoods rarely meet, despite being just a few minutes' walk apart. Residents on the north side have taken down the basketball hoops on their parks to discourage southern neighbours from coming over to play black America's favourite sport. That decision goes to the core of the problem: race.

Detroit - like many big American cities - is deeply racially divided between black and white. In the Fifties, more than 2 million people called Detroit home. Now that figure is fewer than , After race riots rocked the city in hundreds of thousands of whites moved away, unwilling to share their city with black Americans freed by the civil rights movements of the Sixties.

They took with them the jobs and the money, condemning neighbourhoods to a long decline. The second blow to Detroit was one of employment. The slow death of the American car industry has meant the death of much of working-class Detroit. Tens of thousands of jobs have disappeared in the past few decades, further eroding the city.

Detroit has been gutted of its economic worth. It is dotted by gigantic and abandoned factories and host to roughly 13, homeless people. It is a place where residents will often burn 'problem' houses in their own neighbourhoods because the police will not tackle the crack dens themselves. Yet to the north of Eight Mile lies a land of office parks and strip malls.

It is a country of Starbucks and car parks and tidy lawns and white picket fences. I know it's suburbia but that's where most people want to be,' says Ellen Francis, a year-old mother of two as she walks along the pavements of Ferndale, about two miles north of Eight Mile.

For Eight Mile has become not just a racial divide but also a class one. So he may have been white, but he was still a "nigger",' says Carl Taylor, who is black and a sociologist at Michigan State University.

One of the few things to cross Eight Mile successfully has been rap music. In the shopping malls of northern suburbs such as Rochester Hills and Sterling Heights, white teenagers listen to the latest rap artists. They wear the baggy clothes and expensive trainers promoted by the hippest rap stars.

Rap stars are heroes and the top of them all is Eminem. When Eminem - real name Marshall Mathers - became a success he added further proof to the idea that rap music was a way out of poverty and crime.

The mainstreaming of black urban culture into white suburban America has been one of the biggest, and most surprising, cultural phenomenons of the last two decades. It is also one of the most lucrative. For many black kids it offered the promise of riches and a life free from crime.

Nowhere has that been more true than in Detroit. Available On Air Stations. All Streams. Detroit Stories. On this page you'll find all of our stories on the city of Detroit. Suggest a story here and follow our podcast here.

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A post shared by Connor Donovan co. The former Polynesian restaurant and club had been abandoned for many years when it was revived for several scenes in 8 Mile. In it was demolished by the Ilitch family, owners of Little Caesars Arena, and is now a surface parking lot.

In the movie, Cheddar Bob pulls out a gun during a brawl but ends up shooting himself in the leg. Detroit's most famous theater turned parking lot is the scene for a rap battle and scuffles between Three One Third and the rival group of rappers caled the Leaders of the Free World. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from.

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