Steve Neavling
Protesters march in Detroit following the death of George Floyd last year.
Activists groups are organizing a rally against racial profiling on Eight Mile Road in Detroit on Saturday afternoon.
The march will begin at 1 p.m. at the Belmont Shopping Center at 1900 E. Eight Mile near Dequindre just south of Hazel Park and proceed west to Woodward Avenue. The march is set to end at 5 p.m.
“The purpose of this event is to build unity across Detroit and the suburbs around Eight Mile to oppose racism and police brutality,” a news release states. “We will not be silent. We will be loud and they will hear us!”
For decades, Eight Mile has been a dividing line between the affluent, predominately white suburban neighborhoods and the lower-income, primarily Black neighborhoods of Detroit.
Suburban police have long been criticized for targeting Black drivers. The ACLU of Michigan reviewed traffic stops in 2014 to discover that Ferndale police disproportionately pull over Black motorists.
Another study in the Du Bois Review found that Black motorists were more likely to be arrested and ticketed after traffic stops in Eastpointe. The Free Press last month documented racial profiling during traffic stops in other suburban communities.
The rally is being organized by Michigan Liberation, Racial Profiling Across 8 Mile, 313 Care Collective, SWARM – South Warren Alliance of Radical Movement, Detroit Will Breathe, Moratorium NOW! Coalition, and General Baker Institute.
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