There are a myriad of reasons for Detroit's problems. Bad politicians, segregration, poor education, poverty, lack of jobs, overreliance on one industry, globalization, tax abatements, poor property tax collection, low tax base,suburban sprawl, crime, etc. It's not something that happened overnight. From a purely mathematical standpoint this was predictable a decade or so ago.

However the Michigan constitution does protect public pensions. The Fire and Police pensions are not in fact underfunded. Orr has made some very questionable actuarial assumptions to make that argument. And he will be fought on that. The average retiree pension is roughly $19,000/yr. Public employees do not receive Social Security.

SE Michigan is indeed one of if not the most racially segregated areas in the country but it's been that way since before I was born or before Detroit had its first black mayor. I know that some have glee over Detroit's issues but it's too simplistic to say that this is solely because of political leadership. The previous take over of the school system by the state turned a surplus into a deficit so of course people are leery of outside management. There is justifiable concern that the bankruptcy will be used to line pockets, strip assets and leave the citizens even worse off than they were before.

If there is a choice between cutting benefits for retirees and reducing profits for bondholders I know where I would be.

"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives."
Winter is Coming

Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.