Preview

Summary Of The 21 Mile Walk To Work

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
722 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Summary Of The 21 Mile Walk To Work
Methods of transportation are often taken for granted. Only when you lose it, do you truly understand its value. “The 21 Mile Walk to Work,” an article by David A. Graham, presents the story of a man, James Robertson, who walks to work every day. This article brings certain political issues to light by using this story as an example for the local government to expand their public transportation services. People like James are forced to walk to work so they can make a living and survive in the city of Detroit, Michigan. Detroit is one of the most dangerous cities in the United States. Crime rates are at an all-time high and the unemployment rates have increased to 25 percent inside city limits. James Robertson walks 21 miles through some rough …show more content…
Since he doesn’t get enough sleep, he compensates by drinking 2-liters of Mountain Dew or a couple cans of Coca-Cola. This lifestyle will eventually hurt Robertson more than help him. There are many others who go through the same obstacles as James throughout the city, perhaps the country. The author’s main point of the article is to show the Detroit local government the struggles people go through to keep their jobs. This, in turn, will hopefully advise the local government to increase public transportation and stimulate the economy more efficiently so that people, like James, won’t need to take such drastic measures. This article is inspirational because it gives you a look at a man’s ability to persevere through what seems to be the worst of times. The strength of this man to walk 21 miles to work is a true example to the rest of the world about what humans are willing to do to survive. The issues in Detroit are severe and seem to be getting worse. Tacoma, on the other hand, is a resurrected city. Crime rates have dropped, buildings have been remodeled, and new businesses have risen up. Personally, I have never had the need to walk to work or school and have never had any struggles with commuting anywhere. Public transportation is great in Tacoma and is on the rise. Detroit too, can one die rise from the ashes of its former self and become great again. This article demonstrates the ineffectiveness of Detroit’s government and its ability to properly serve the people

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Crime In Chicago

    • 1453 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Chicago is known as the heart of America; the place people gather from coast to coast. Famous for its architecture, history, sports teams and delicious food, Chicago has a lot to offer. However, this city is currently in a lot of trouble. What was once known as a thriving, luxurious city is now being taken over by violence. News programs across the nation haven’t been broadcasting the positive things about Chicago, instead they have been primarily focusing on the uprising problem in this city-the crime. Year by year, the crime rates in Chicago are rapidly growing. Last year “Chicago recorded 762 homicides . . . an average of two murders per day” (Fox News). This is an unacceptable number of killings and is “more than New York and Los Angeles…

    • 1453 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Over time, transportation has shown to have an incredible impact on the United States. It has revealed to bring about economic and social changes in various ways. In the late eighteenth century ancient methods of traveling were still in use in America and it was often very slow. Americans were aware that if transportation advancement occurred, it would potentially increase foreign trade, increase land values as well as strengthen the American economy. In the mid 1800s it has been determined that transportation advancement has a drastic effect on our lives even today.…

    • 1195 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Frontier Cities Summary

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The book focuses on cities like New Orleans, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Montreal to bolster this thesis. However, this book also clarifies that this development…

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Before World War I, Detroit’s population was only about 1 percent African American. This was because most still lived in the South. The increase of the black population in Detroit began around 1910. This was because many men were sent to war, and industrial jobs needed to be filled in order to support the war. The opportunity was appealing to the African American population, and many migrated…

    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The problem has been recognized and more than just planners and lawmakers are noticing the ways that our cities aren’t functioning. One way that our city here in Grand Rapids has struggled with for years is the…

    • 1173 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Detroit vs. Poverity

    • 1684 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The problem with Detroit is when the city closes down a Building because they cannot pay the funds. The city leaves buildings there for years until the paint start pulling off. The grass starts growing high, and leaves a bad smell. For example when the” packer plant close down, there were tress growing from the roof and the slowly crumbling walls and the trash fires set weekly daily by vagrants and punks” (Gallagher, 1949)…

    • 1684 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Detroit, Michigan is approximately 2000 square miles with an estimated population of 870,000 residents. Within the City of Detroit is a wide range of ethic backgrounds and multiple cultural centers. The city embraces a large amount of history such as the original location of the Michigan Capital, home of Motown, and the head quarters of the auto industry. In recent times, the City of Detroit has experienced difficult periods with mortgages and auto industries. Three of the strongest automobile companies reduced staffing and closed automobile manufacturing plants throughout the United States, which left many residents of Detroit jobless. Land values have decreased causing countless people to owe more on homes then the documented value. Due to the vast amount of Detroit residents without income, many homes were foreclosed or redeemed by banks. The neighborhoods…

    • 2484 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Genuine Progress Indicator

    • 2143 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The city of Detroit, Michigan was once the most prosperous, ‘booming’ cities in the world, especially in the second half of the twentieth century. This was thanks to their automotive industry, ‘the Big 3’. ‘The Big 3’ included Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler, who all have their world…

    • 2143 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Race has been an issue that America has fought and struggled with since the Founding Fathers laid down its foundation. While American soldiers were fighting in World War II, there was also fighting on American soil between different races. African Americans and whites were having confrontations all over, but Detroit happened to be one of the worst confrontations between the two races. Many African Americans began to flock to Detroit for jobs in the Motor City and this began to cause problems for the city. The Detroit Race Riots can be linked to many different causes, but three main causes are: the discrimination against African Americans in the work place, the housing opportunities for each race especially the African Americans, and the discrimination against African Americans by the police force.…

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Say Hi or Die

    • 650 Words
    • 3 Pages

    1. Getting used to the life in Los Angeles. Mr. freed, see how a city of 3.5 million people had 1.100 homicides last year, a fired employee slaughtered…

    • 650 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Detroit Riots

    • 2346 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Meredith, Robyn. "5 Days in 1967 Still Shake Detroit." The New York Times 23 July 1997.…

    • 2346 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    When Work Disappears

    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Americans believe that inner city residents, mainly African Americans, struggle to survive and choose violence and crime intentionally, and that they are lazy and unmotivated to improve their lifestyle. However, William Julius Wilson, writer of When Work Disappears, disagrees with these thoughts, and he believes that results of joblessness have caused the violent behavior and the poverty in inner cities. Wilson states,”Many of today’s problems in the inner-city neighborhoods—crime, family dissolution, welfare—are fundamentally a consequence of the disappearance of work.” He also explains how this problem will cause “lasting and harmful consequences” if it is not addressed. He also believes that there are practical solutions to these problems and writes, “…those solutions are at hand.”…

    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Our America

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Our America does an excellent job of painting a picture of urban city life by showing the audience a firsthand account of the problems faced by children in poverty-stricken areas. LeAlan and Lloyd give readers a view of life in the projects that should stir all of us to action. Their simple and understandable conversations bring to life the problems and challenges faced by their families and neighbors. Anyone interested in learning more about the plight of the inner city should read this book. Not because it proposes any grand plans for fixing the problem, but because it gives the reader a view into a world rarely, if ever, encountered by most Americans.…

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Toch, Hans. (2012). Volatile scenarios in the ghetto. American Psychological Association (xxiv ed). Washington, DC: Author.…

    • 3297 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Crime in Detroit

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages

    For many years Detroit, Michigan has been known as the murder capital of the world. Stats show that in 2012 Detroit had the highest rate of violent crimes over any other city in the United States. Crime around the city is not only committed by the residents but also by local police officials and government officials. These are the people that took a vow to serve and protect us. But we have to protect ourselves from them.…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays