Rackham Sold To Developers

In its usual short sighted manner, the Detroit City Council has approved the sale of the historical Rackham Golf Course to developers. A judge has ruled that it must remain a public golf course, but the developers clearly are not buying it for that purpose. They must think that they have an angle that will allow them to have their evil way.

Meanwhile, the Detroit City Council—who are as big a bunch of scoundrels as has ever lived—have ignored an offer by the adjacent City of Huntington Woods to
purchase the property to keep it a golf course.

I’m the cynical type, so I’m going to advance a theory on this one: I think that the refusal of Detroit to sell the course to Huntington Woods is based purely on racism. The City Council of the overwhelmingly African American Detroit would rather see the course destroyed than sell it to the overwhelmingly Caucasian Huntington Woods.

It’s not that much of a stretch. Previously, Detroit’s City Council very nearly shut down the Detroit Zoo (which, coincidentally sits next to Rackham) rather than allow it to be taken over and managed by the Zoological Society. During that heated debate, City Councilwoman Barbara Rose-Collins let her racist motives slip, saying (and I quote) “"We will do what we want, this is not a plantation anymore, white people won`t tell us what to do”

She made it quite clear that she would rather shut the zoo down than allow the white, suburban Zoological Society save it. I suspect similar movites are at work with Rackham. And shame on them.

Rackham is a part of Detroit’s history—and once it’s developed, it will never come back.

Rackham was deeded to the City of Detroit in 1924 by Horace and Mary Rackham on the understanding that it remain as a golf course in perpetuity. It was designed by the legendary Donald Ross.

The course apparently was one of the few places in the area where black golfers were welcome, and Joe Louis is said to have spent considerable time there. Rackham Pro Ben Davis was one of the first African American teaching pros in the country. Davis, who is now in his mid-90s, still plays there twice a week when weather permits.

You can read past posts on the issue here, here and here.