In this Aug. 18, 2009, aerial photo is downtown Pittsburgh located at the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers on the north side of Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) Blue-collar workers poured into the cavernous auto plants of Detroit for generations, confident that a sturdy back and strong work ethic would bring them a house, a car and economic security. It was a place where the American dream came true. It came true in cities across the industrial heartland, from Chicago's meatpacking plants to the fire-belching steel mills of Cleveland and Pittsburgh. It came true for decades, as manufacturing brought prosperity to big cities in states around the Great Lakes and those who called them home. Detroit was the affluent capital, a city with its own emblematic musical sound and a storied union movement that drew Democratic presidential candidates to Cadillac Square every four years to kick off their campaigns at Labor Day rallies.
OHIO VOTER--Lauren Howie, 27, poses outside the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan) EDITOR'S NOTE _ "America at the Tipping Point: The Changing Face of a Nation" is an occasional series examining the cultural mosaic of the U.S. and its historic shift to a majority-minority nation. by Hope Yen WASHINGTON (AP) — Black Americans voted at a higher rate than other minority groups in 2012 and by most measures surpassed the White turnout for the first time, reflecting a deeply polarized presidential election in which Blacks strongly supported Barack Obama while many Whites stayed home.
OFF-WHITE AMERICA--Morning commuters fill the platform as they exit a train in New York's Times Square subway station. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) by Hope Yen Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Welcome to the new off-White America.
