Republican L. Brooks Patterson said he would herd black people into Detroit then “build a fence” around them to keep them there.
“I made a prediction a long time ago and it’s come to pass. I said what we’re gonna do is turn Detroit into an Indian reservation, where we herd all the Indians into the city, build a fence around it and then throw in the blankets and the corn.” — Oakland County (MI) Executive Director L. Brooks Patterson.
This statement was refering to what steps he would take to fix the city’s financial problems. The article came out on Martin Luther King Day this year. “People know me and they know I sometimes use words to make a point,” he said. “When I said Detroit is going to become an Indian reservation, my point was, if you don’t get black people on their feet, the successful ones will move out and the ones that remain will be dependent. We’re getting very close to that now.”
The community was outraged and demanded an apology, however they won;t get one from Patterson. “I’m not apologizing because I didn’t do anything wrong.”