Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist’s, left, take on travel options at different destinations, right.
Photo courtesy of the State of Michigan
“You don’t have to be rich to travel well.”
Travel guru Eugen Fodor had the right idea when sharing his thoughts on how venturing out for leisure can be made easy for everyone regardless of your financial brackets.
In Detroit, and metro Detroit, the sleek future of Detroit transportation is unfolding today as new alternatives are being built out to make venturing beyond the city limits easier for residents, especially for those of color.
Traveling while Black in the past has been a notable luxury afforded to Michiganders especially decades earlier when it was illegal for them to do so in the late 19th century due to Jim Crow laws keeping Black people out of hotels and eateries. While those types of laws didn’t occur per se in the north, Black tourists were still unable to vacation at numerous beaches, hotels, and other facilities due to racism and segregation still in effect.
The Road Less Traveled
The Negro Motorist Green Book, a helpful travel guide for Black people (published from 1936 to 1967) changed everything as Black travelers found safe havens throughout the book, which listed services and accommodations where they were welcome, including hotels, motels, gas stations, liquor stores, hair salons, taverns, tailors, and much more. It was published by a Black postal worker, Victor Hugo Green.
Traveling safely to a Michigan-based paradise for Black vacationers was a must, too. Back in the day, a place once described as “The Black Eden,” Idlewild, Michigan, was an all-Black resort and place of respite for Black professionals and well-to-do folks spent their summer days away from the racially segregated and racially charged- atmosphere waiting for them back home. These types of resorts exclusively catering to Black vacationers and became popular in the north and the south according to reports.
While the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination in all places of public accommodation – and the law was quickly upheld by the Supreme Court in Heart of Atlanta Motel Inc. v. The United States, its impact on transportation, and the right to travel freely “has yet to be fully realized.”
Black motorists are now far more likely than whites to be stopped and searched, get traffic tickets, and be treated disrespectfully (or worse) by police.
While Jim Crow laws are no longer in effect, discriminatory travel-based practices are still in effect and the right to travel without 100% fear of repercussions is still not a reality for many Black travelers.
“Black motorists are now far more likely than whites to be stopped and searched, get traffic tickets, and be treated disrespectfully (or worse) by police,” DR. Glenn C. Altschuler, Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University, said.
“The nation’s divided and divisive racial geography remains very much intact. There’s no need to travel back in time to travel Black,” noted Mia Bay (a professor of American History at the University of Pennsylvania, author of “The White Image in the Black Mind,’’ and co-author of “Freedom on My Mind: A History of African Americans, with Documents’’).
Removing the Roadblocks
Evelyn D’Haene, 35 of Lansing, is hoping to change that historical narrative.
As a real estate investor-turned entrepreneur who told the Michigan Chronicle that she is expanding her empire to the travel world. As the founder of the Findmyrvhome app (like an AirBnB but on wheels), she wants to broaden Black people’s (among others) travel experience by helping them find RV rentals to take during their vacations or downtime.
Findmyrvhome is a Michigan-based Recreational Vehicle (RV) sharing company that connects RV owners with people who want to rent out RVs.
With national data statistics showing that 46 million Americans planned on taking an RV trip during the pandemic (and 11% of US households own an RV), D’Haene said that she wants to change the narrative of Black travel at a cheaper rate.
“It gives people the freedom to travel between 20-60% cheaper than traditional airfare and hotel fees,” she said adding that “millennials have made vacationing in an RV very popular.”
“FindMyRVHome will aid families who are interested in using an RV for a vacation, they don’t have to own one they can rent one from another individual who isn’t using theirs at that moment,” she said adding that this eliminates the price of a hotel and airfare to get to a vacation destination.
She added that she is coming into this space that has fewer people of color and is dominated by White men.
“I knew I needed to carve a niche for myself,” D’Haene said, adding that she is a Black business pioneer creating an app that caters to Black RV owners. (I have a) vantage point in this … and want to be widely known as the best place to (go) you when you want a culturally rich vacation experience.”
For more information go to https://findmyrvhome.com/.
By Way of Detroit
For Detroiters looking to travel to Toronto by train, they can look no further than Amtrak as it is looking to add Detroit to its Toronto train route (with a stop in Windsor, Ontario, too) through a service expansion, according to a press release.
Amtrak and Canadian Pacific Railway Limited recently announced an agreement with Amtrak supporting the proposed combination of CP and Kansas City Southern (KCS) railways.
Under the merger proposal, CP has agreed to work with Amtrak to expand its services, which includes adding the Detroit to Toronto route.
The updated route would include passenger service through the Detroit River Tunnel between Michigan and Ontario to Windsor and Toronto (with connections to VIA Rail Canada).
It also plans to increase its frequency with a train route running between Chicago and Milwaukee. The agreement between CP and KCS is on tap to be presented to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board for approval soon.
Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist, who has a background in transit, told the Michigan Chronicle that he knows something about safe, reliable, affordable, and convenient public transportation systems, concepts that state leaders are making more tangible through a $6.3 billion portion of proposals in the state budget for infrastructure investments and to address any inequities.
“We’re really proud,” Gilchrist said. “There’s going to be a significant amount of that that will be dedicated for public transit system improvements.”
Gilchrist added that he is also looking forward to the proposed train expansion, too, along with millions of federal dollars investing in public transit infrastructure across the board as well. “That’s going to mean trains that are safe and reliable and available. … And so we’re eager to make those investments because we think that will help to showcase how strong this region is when it’s better connected.”
Glenn C. Altschuler contributed to this report.