JC Reindl

Detroit Free Press

The barricade on Kercheval Avenue is comprised of three farmers market sheds

An agreement between Detroit and Grosse Pointe Park calls for the removal of the sheds by November

Some residents view the barricade as a hostile act with discriminatory undertones

There was group singing and hugs all around on Sunday on Kercheval Avenue at the border of Detroit and Grosse Pointe Park where a recently erected barricade of three sheds in the roadway triggered bitter feelings and charges of race and class discrimination.

More than 100 people gathered at the barricade to take part in a get-together for residents of Detroit and Grosse Pointe Park. The event was billed as unity-building collaboration to bridge the "city/suburb divide."

"This is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen," said event organizer Hans Barbe, 30, who grew up in Grosse Pointe Park and now lives in Detroit's Boston-Edison district.

"Amen," replied voices in the crowd.

The barricade itself is comprised of three farmers market sheds that Grosse Pointe Park erected in July to stop thorough traffic on the road between the two cities.

Grosse Pointe Park officials insisted at the time that their blockade was needed to help stabilize the business strip, but many Detroit residents, as well as some in Grosse Pointe Park, viewed the barricade as a hostile act with discriminatory undertones.

An agreement signed last month between the City of Detroit and Grosse Pointe Park calls for the removal of the sheds by November and the creation of "a new gateway along Kercheval Road (Avenue) linking both communities."

Those at Sunday's event were glad that the sheds are to come down, but many remained skeptical.

"I'll believe it when I see it," said Arthur Mullen of Grosse Pointe Park, who, like others at the gathering, was surprised to see the barricade go up. "I find it appalling and tone deaf."

Many viewed the barricade as just the latest physical manifestation of a longstanding cultural divide between Detroit and nearby suburbs. A goal of Sunday's event was to bring two communities together.

"Familiarity does not breed contempt," said Dawn DeRose of Detroit. "You have to get to know each other."

To symbolize the communion, a group of Grosse Pointe Park residents and another of Detroiters took shape on their respective sides of the border, within walking distance of the new barricade. The groups then set off to meet as members chanted the Civil Rights Movement song, "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round."

"This is not a demonstration," said Grosse Pointe Park resident Graig Donnelly. "It's an opportunity for people on both sides of the border to come together."

Contact JC Reindl: 313-222-6631 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JCReindl.