The Detroit Wall: A Tale of How Federal Policy Helped Divide A City
Starting at the northern boundary of Antwerp Park on Pembroke Avenue is a 6-foot high wall, known by many names. The Detroit Eight Mile Wall, Detroit’s Wailing Wall, The Birwood Wall, or the Wyoming Wall. The wall extends about half a mile north and stops just south of 8 Mile Road. The wall served one purpose: To separate an already existent black neighborhood from a new all-white neighborhood. But why? Money. And racially-charged federal housing policies. You see, in the 1930s, that area...