Arbor Update

Its Only Teenage Wasteland

18. July 2004 • Ari Paul
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Could the last venue for suburban teens turn its back on its best patrons?

The Ann Arbor Paper reports:

Malls in surrounding cities are beginning to enforce curfews: only grown folks allowed after 5 p.m. Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn was the first to implement the rule at the beginning of June, and Eastland Mall in Harper Woods followed suit in the middle of the month. The curfew stipulates that no one under 18 be admitted unless they are accompanied by an adult over 21. Some members of the Michigan ACLU are up in arms over ageism, but for now, the curfew remains.

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1. “Could the last venue for suburban teens turn its back on its best patrons?”
   
   I think it would be more accurate to say suburban and urban black teens.
      —Mark    Jul. 18 '04 - 07:14PM    #
   
2. oh, and other students of color, esp. folks of Middle Eastern origins.
      —Mark    Jul. 19 '04 - 02:45AM    #
   
3. And… white teenagers. Why are you making this a race issue, exactly? Such rules apply to all, regardless of color.
      —Brandon    Jul. 19 '04 - 01:12PM    #
   
4. Twelve Oaks Mall, Ann Arbor’s mall, and other malls in the metro Detroit area are not doing this.
   
   One of the major factors is the ethnicity surrounding the malls in question.
      —Mark    Jul. 19 '04 - 07:40PM    #
   
5. Dearborn is 85.9% white, Harper Woods is 86.7% white. It seems likely that the majority of teens barred from these malls will be white. Ann Arbor is a mere 77.6% white, in comparison. Meanwhile no malls in Southfield, which is about 1/3 black, are doing the same, nor are other malls surrounding Detroit or Pontiac. I really don’t think it can be proven that this is about race—it’s about teenagers, who are likely seen as obnoxious loiterers.
      —Brandon    Jul. 20 '04 - 10:59PM    #