Nah, Detroit still had a solid black middle class in the 1980's. The auto plants were no longer hiring like they did in the 1960's, but Detroiters were still making money. Also, Pops Flenory worked for GM, hourly employees were getting some nice profit sharing checks in the 1980's usually between 2K-10K, if the Flenory family home was in danger of being foreclosed, either someone had a habit or mama Flenory didnt know how to balance a checkbook. My late pops (r.i.p) worked for Ford Motor Company for 30 years and he stated that everything that happens on the streets of Detroit also happened inside of the plants.