Flint, Michigan Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Late 20th century: deindustrialization and demographic changes=== Since the late 1960s through the end of the 20th century, Flint has suffered from [[disinvestment]], [[deindustrialization]], [[Population decline|depopulation]] and [[urban decay]], as well as high rates of crime, unemployment and poverty. Initially, this took the form of "[[white flight]]" that afflicted many urban industrialized American towns and cities. Given Flint's role in the automotive industry, this decline was exacerbated by the [[1973 oil crisis]] with spiking oil prices and the U.S. auto industry's subsequent loss of market share to imports, as Japanese manufacturers were producing cars with better [[fuel economy in automobiles|fuel economy]].<ref>Peter Cheney, 'Globe and Mail,' November 5, 2015, "The rise of Japan: How the car industry was won" https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/adventure/red-line/the-rise-of-japan-how-the-car-industry-was-won/article27100187/</ref> In the 1980s, the rate of deindustrialization accelerated again with local GM employment falling from a 1978 high of 80,000 to under 8,000 by 2010. Only 10% of the manufacturing work force from its height remains in Flint. Many factors have been blamed, including [[outsourcing]], [[offshoring]], increased [[automation]], and moving jobs to [[Labor unions in the United States|non-union]] facilities in right to work states and foreign countries. This decline was highlighted in the film ''[[Roger & Me]]'' by [[Michael Moore]] (the title refers to [[Roger Smith (executive)|Roger B. Smith]], the CEO of General Motors during the 1980s). Also highlighted in Moore's documentary was the failure of city officials to reverse the trends with entertainment options (e.g. the now-demolished [[AutoWorld (theme park)|AutoWorld]]) during the 1980s. Moore, a native of [[Davison, Michigan|Davison]] (a Flint suburb), revisited Flint in his later movies, including ''[[Bowling for Columbine]]'', ''[[Fahrenheit 9/11]]'', and ''[[Fahrenheit 11/9]]''. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page