I too am sorry for your loss, but this is what to expect in a politically correct world.

i'm also very sorry that your cousin was killed and even sadder she was taken from your family so violently and senselessly.

i've been thinking about the events and circumstances you've reported since i first encountered your article about 9:45 am pdt on 8/15; it's now 8/'18 at about 9:30pm and thoughts about these things continue to pop to the surface of my consciousness at least several times every waking hour.

this is my second attempt at responding. i began to do so two days ago but became concerned i might upset you at a time when you clearly need no more of that. after some rereading and in light of new information you provided, i've changed my mind once again. (i also read some of your archived articles and rightly or wrongly--altho hopefully accurately--determined from them you seem to be more rational than emotional and will hopefully understand what i'm about to say is intended to help clarify rather than camouflage.) .

i grew up downriver (in lincoln park) and went to elementary school there and to high school in wyandotte. this was quite some time ago and i haven't been back there since the mid-70s--and prior to that only infrequently (after hs, i moved close to wsu where i lived for the next 4+ years)..

i'm the last person to assert a claim to wisdom based solely on age, but there is one very bittersweet lesson i've sorta learned: change happens everywhere and all the time. so, if i arrived tomorrow in lincoln park, wyandotte, southgate or almost anywhere else in suburban detroit, i'd be more shocked to find those places as i remember them than the other way around--with one huge exception.

whatever other racial problems persist in america 2007, most of this nation's sizable cities (like 100k population+) are no longer bastions of racial segregation. america's most racially exclusive communities aren't found in the deep south but in metro detroit.

according to census data provided in series of articles on this very subject by the detroit news in 2002, 51.7% of wayne county residents are white, 42.2% are black and 6.1% are neither. only 4 of 42 incorporated municipalities in wayne county--ecorse, hamtramck, romulus and river rouge--are home to populations reflecting those proportions.
detroit itself, highland park (i never considered hp separate from detroit but..), royal oak township, southfield and inkster have much larger black-to-white ratios. 85%+ residents of the remaining 32 communities are white--with livonia having the dubious honor of being the whitest large city in both metro detroit and the usa.

you allude to this in your description of taylor:



while taylor's 9% black population comes close to reflecting national demographics, and isn't nearly as badly outta proportion as 28 of 42 wayne county cities with fewer than 5%--lots fewer in most of these--black residents, it's a bit of a stretch to describe taylor as having a 'decently sized black population'. your assertion that blacks in taylor live in one concentrated areas is supported by the fact that 95% of students at one of taylor's 15 elementary schools are white while 69% of students at another are black (enrollment is restricted by proximity). both schools hare roughly 430 students. (as an aside, teachers at the nearly all-white school earn on average more than $28,000 per year than their counterparts.)



i dunno for sure, but i'm guessing the municipal employees are required to live in taylor which would diminish the pool of eligible applicants--altho not nearly so badly as those 15 wayne county communities with 1% or fewer black residents.

while it seems to me citizens of taylor as well as members of its police force would benefit by having non-white officers, that in itself would not render taylor pd--or any other police department--racially benign or malicious. seems reasonable to conclude a more diverse department might be less vulnerable to accusations of minority abuse.

one of the more disturbing aspects of metro detroit's de facto segregation is its association with racially abusive law enforcement. less than 50 years ago, dearborn police harassed and/or arrested blacks traveling thru their city at night unless they were in the company of a white person--preferably a resident of dearborn. i've seen members of other metro detroit suburban departments blatantly victimize non-whites on several occasions (for that matter, i've seen black detroit cops and wayne county sheriff deputies do the same thing).

with that in mind, this is one of a few questionable conclusions or observations offered in your original article:



i'm always suspicious of retracted confessions--especially when quickly obtained and then quickly denied and associated with allegations of coercion--and i'm hopeful the residue tests are sufficiently conclusive to motivate the taylor pd to move on and redouble their efforts to apprehend the shooter(s).

you've not explained your cousin's kid(s?) involvement in events leading up to the shooting. it's possible they're also innocent victims--anything's possible--but it seems more likely they weren't targeted randomly. nothing they did justifies by any means what happened, but the backstory might well provide a basis for trial-worthy indictments.

considering how this played out, perhaps you'll understand why i found this a bit ironic:



you've been very candid in discussing your cousin. i don't mean to be contentious but it seems the same could be said of her.

i have more to add, but i don't wanna use up all the virtual paper allotted to your account.

thanks for permitting us a glimpse inside your world at a time when it could not have been an easy thing for you to do.

No Political discussion here either ~~~ I am however another relative of the Murdered Mother of 6 in Taylor. Her name was Wendy Meinke

I will not go into what is right or wrong as for what happend the night our cousin was shot and killed while trying to protect her son. What I would like to say is I am very sorry to Josh, Tasha, Kelly, Austin, Ashley and Erick (Wendy's Children)
Her grandchildren, niece's, nephews, brother's, sister's, cousin's, Aunt's, Uncle's and friends. Not only am I very sorry for their loss but extremeley sorry that the this whole post is on here for EVERYONE to read. True or False.....Right or Wrong the decisions she made were hers to make, who are we to say if they were right or wrong?

We are entitled to Freedom of Speech I understand, Relswickwick I just wish you would have thought about what is going to go through the minds of her children. There ages are 22, 19, 15, 6, 4 and 6 months old. I was at the funeral and Thank GOD there was love and respect shown for her there by numerous friends and family members for her children to hear. Not to mention the rest of out LARGE and once close family.


Regarding the case
....
Depending on what you read and or watch there are many different accounts as to what happened on July 30th 2007 We will never really know. What the truth is There are 6 kids without a mother. Someone else in the State odf Mi. has been nurdered and the person who fired the fatal shot that killed my cousin is still out on the streets.
Not only that person but the others who know what happen they are just as guilty.

and children

Her children are all living with family members and along with the rest of us who
knew and loved her are praying that the person/persons who took Wendy Ellen Meinke's life will be caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent.

Wendy you will truly be missed by all of us.

I do not want to stoop to name calling after including Wendy 5 of us are blood relatives. What I do want to do is keep the issue (THE MURDER) fresh in everyone's mind. In Hopes that someone who knows something my read this and come forward.




New suspect in Taylor shooting (News August 18th 2007)

Fourth person jailed after police released three teens in controversial case.

Christine Ferretti and Tony Gonzalez / The Detroit News



TAYLOR -- Police and prosecutors aren't talking, but a fourth man is in jail in the convoluted murder case of a Taylor single mother that's already seen three suspects freed in the past week.

Jujuan Earl Willis, 22, of Detroit is due in 23rd District Court on Monday on two counts of felony assault with intent to murder in the July 30 shooting -- a case that became embroiled in controversy last week because protesters claimed police rounded up black suspects for the white woman's death.

Willis, on probation for assault and battery, was arrested Tuesday. That's a day before prosecutors dropped charges against two black teens, and a day after they freed a 14-year-old who was held five days.

Neither police nor prosecutors disclosed the arrest when discussing the case at length this week. And they wouldn't comment Friday.

"The investigation is ongoing and we're working closely with the Taylor Police," said Jack Fennessey, spokesman for Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.

The twist is the latest in a case that Taylor cops call the most confusing in 20 years. Part of the discord stems from Wendy Meinke's death. Police recovered bullets from at least two guns after she died rushing to the aid of her son, who was arguing with several men outside Coppertree apartments. NOT CHASING IN A CAR
Witness statements changed often, police said. So, too, have plans for one freed suspect, Franklin Smith, 18, who was charged as an accessory.

He and Devin Plummer, 17, were described by supporters such as political consultant Adolph Mongo as college-bound students. But officials for Rock Valley College in Illinois refuted claims Friday that Smith was enrolled or even applied to the school.

Press releases this week indicated Smith had a scholarship to play basketball. The school doesn't offer them, said spokesman Mike Robinson.

Smith's mother, Gwen Johnson, called it a misunderstanding. She said he missed an Aug. 9 recruiting meeting with a coach because he was jailed. Smith's lawyer, Mark Brown, said supporters should have said he would have received financial aid if the meeting led to his enrollment.

Either way, the opportunity is gone, Brown said, and the issue is irrelevant to the injustice that ended when tests showed Plummer couldn't have fired a bullet that killed Meinke, 38, mother of six.

"These boys are innocent, and throwing dirt on their name does not take away from what the police did to them," Mongo said.

It is with much shame that I removed it and it will be a long time, if ever, that I may overcome that shame. I am at a loss and my apologies to all. I did not mean to cause pain, but that is what I did as many of you have pointed out. There is no way I can repay the pain I have caused on top of the pain already suffered.

I agree and we greatly appreciate that you removed it. I think that the best thing we can all do here, is maybe keep it up to date on what is happening with the case. As stated before....maybe JUST maybe someone will know something and have the decency to come forward about it. By either contacting the Taylor Police Post or if I am not mistaken the news that I have heard is that the Michigan State Police are now invloved as well.

I was in no way shouting at him. We voiced our opinions as he asked and as he did.

Truthfully for the most part the post was fine, espcially countering the BS that Media is reporting. I am very sorry for the way you are feeling I am apologize that I am partially to blame for that. Just remember that we do all come from the same family and there have been MANY issues that have happend over the years and for the most part most of us can FORGIVE AND FORGET....The ones who continue to hold a grudge and can't get over it...let them be miserable....If you don't have family who do you have?????

You did say in the orignal post that this blog was intended to stir the pot (not the exact words) I guess that is what happened.

As for any of us being close.....Instead of getting together only for the bad things that happen.....We have a family reunion every year in July and as far as I know it is held the same weekend that it has been held for many years. I have also heard that there is another reunion in Kentucky this I believe is at the end of Septemeber.