Mary Sheffield’s Election Is About More Than History
by Chris Moyer
When Detroit elected Mary Sheffield as its next mayor, the headlines focused on history. She is the first woman to lead the city in 324 years. That is meaningful and worth celebrating, but it is only part of the story. Her election represents something deeper, a shift in tone and a chance to take on Detroit’s most persistent challenge: perception.
Detroit’s problems are well known. Poverty that runs deep. Public transit that has never been supported enough to connect people to opportunity. Neighborhoods that are still blighted or disconnected from the progress downtown. A school system that continues to face systemic challenges. These are real, but they are not unique. What sets Detroit apart is how people think about it. In too many corners of Michigan and across the country, Detroit is still seen as unsafe or broken. According to a 2023 Gallup poll, only 26 percent of Americans said they consider Detroit a “safe city,” ranking it last among major U.S. cities. The data tells a different story. The city has been getting safer for two decades and is on track to be as safe as it was in the early 1960s. The problem is not reality; it is reputation.
The truth is that the city is getting better. When Mike Duggan took office, Detroit was in financial freefall. He came in to fix systems that had stopped working and restore confidence that local government could deliver. He did that and he deserves a ton of credit for that. Services are reliable, budgets are balanced, and investment is returning. But the greatness of Detroit was never just about City Hall or balance sheets. The city has always been great. Cars would not be cars without Detroit. Music would not be music without Detroit. The world would be different without the people of this city.
Detroit didn’t invent the automobile, but it invented the way the world makes, markets, and sells it. The very principles of modern marketing, advertising, and communications come from the Detroit auto industry. The city gave us not just an economy, but a way to connect culture to commerce. It also gave us the soundtrack to modern life. Five genres of music were born here: Soul, Motown, Funk, New Gospel, and Techno. There are more musicians from Detroit than you could ever count, and the influence runs through every note you hear on the radio.
Detroit has never been perfect. When it was the richest city in the world in 1954, producing 80 percent of the cars sold globally, it still faced racial and economic divisions. And it was never as bad as it was portrayed during the dark days of the 1970s, 80s, and 90s when it was labeled the murder capital of America. The city has endured, adapted, and rebuilt. For more than a decade now, Detroit has been in a period of revival, reinvestment, and resurgence. What needs to catch up is how people talk and think about it.
That is what makes Mary Sheffield’s election matter. Her administration will focus on neighborhoods, on people who have felt left out of the comeback story. She will bring attention to Detroit as the largest Black majority city in the country. Her leadership style will be younger, energetic, and community driven. But if she wants the city to fully realize its potential, she has to take on the perception problem. Changing how Detroit sees itself and how others see it is essential for investment, growth, and shared prosperity.
Detroit’s future will depend as much on confidence as on capital. Mary Sheffield’s job will not only be to lead a city, but to lead a story. Detroit doesn’t need to prove its worth; it needs to be seen clearly. The challenge for Mayor Sheffield is not just to continue Detroit’s progress, but to make the rest of the country catch up to the city’s reality. How people see Detroit will shape how much they invest in it, visit it, and believe in it.
For more about Mary Sheffield’s election, the perception of Detroit, and more Michigan related topics, tune into episode three of the “Beyond Both Sides” podcast wherever you get your podcasts.