Editing Coleman Young (section)

===1973 campaign===
{{see also|1973 Detroit mayoral election}}

Coleman Young decided to run for mayor of Detroit in 1973. At the forefront of his campaign, he sought to address the increasing police violence suffered by black residents in the city. By 1972, the black population in Detroit was nearly half of the population – but was patrolled disproportionately by a white police department.<ref name="deslippe">{{cite journal|last=Deslippe|first=Dennis A.|date=April 23, 2006|title="Do Whites Have Rights?": White Detroit Policemen and "Reverse Discrimination" Protests in the 1970s|url=http://www.umass.edu/legal/Hilbink/250/Dennis%20A.%20Deslippe%20-%20Do%20Whites%20have%20Rights.pdf|journal=[[The Journal of American History]]|publisher=[[History Cooperative]]|access-date=July 15, 2014|archive-date=June 17, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617125142/http://www.umass.edu/legal/Hilbink/250/Dennis%20A.%20Deslippe%20-%20Do%20Whites%20have%20Rights.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Specifically, Young notified Police Commissioner [[John Nichols (law enforcement officer)|John Nichols]] that the police decoy unit, STRESS (Stop the Robberies and Enjoy Safe Streets), was a major racially charged problem of the city.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=[[Detroit: Race Riots, Racial Conflicts, and Efforts to Bridge the Racial Divide]]|author1=Darden, Joe T. |author2=Thomas, Richard W.|publisher=Michigan State University Press|year=2013|location=Michigan|pages=100, 101, 103, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118}}</ref> Officers deployed under STRESS had been accused of killing 22 people and arresting hundreds without cause during its {{frac|2|1|2}} years of operation.<ref name="nytyoung" /> In his campaign, Young quoted "one of the problems is that the police run the city… STRESS is responsible for the explosive polarization that now exists; STRESS is an execution squad rather than an enforcement squad. As mayor, I will get rid of STRESS".<ref name=":0" /> The police responded by endorsing John Nichols, the Police Commissioner who was running for mayor against Coleman Young.

Throughout the campaign, Young had an edge over Nichols due to both a growing black population base and due to his broad political experience in local, state, and national politics.<ref name=":0" /> In opposition, Nichols took advantage of the white fear of black crime in the street in order to advance his campaign. Nichols represented a national trend of increased police power and brutality in post-riot cities, and therefore, in Young's opinion, had to be defeated.<ref name=":0" /> While neither candidate openly spoke about race, after the fact, Young admitted that in 1973, “the race was about race”.<ref name=":0" /> Both mayoral candidates were conscious of the high racial tensions in the city, but both attempted to appeal to all groups. &nbsp;

In November 1973, Young narrowly defeated Nichols for mayor, becoming the first black mayor of Detroit. His election represented a major turning point in both the city's racial and political history. In his inaugural address, Mayor Young stated that “the first problem that we must face as citizens of this great city, the first fact that we must look squarely in the eye, is that this city has too long been polarized”.<ref name=":0" /> He stated that "we can no longer afford the luxury of hatred and racial division. What is good for the black people of this city is good for the white people of this city. What is good for the rich people of this city is good for the poor people of this city. What is good for those who live in the suburbs is good for those of us who live in the central city".<ref name=":0" /> Winning by such a small margin in a racially polarized city, Young knew the burden he would have to shoulder as mayor.<ref name=":0" />

[[File:ColemanYoung1981.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Young, 1981]]Young served five terms as mayor of Detroit from 1974 to 1994. Young won re-election by wide margins in 1977, 1981, 1985 and 1989, to serve a total of 20 years as mayor, based largely on black votes.