No matter who wins today’s election for Detroit mayor, I expect many headlines, particularly from the national media — many of whom are already in town covering the city’s historic bankruptcy — to be variations of the following:

While the headlines may put the results in simple black and white, the reality will be more complex.

Would it be newsworthy if Mike Duggan wins the mayor’s race on Tuesday? Sure, for a majority black city to elect a white mayor after 40 years of black leadership is noteworthy. But to boil the results of this election down into a referendum simply on race would be lazy and stereotypical. And it also insults the intelligence of the electorate by making it seem as if race is the only thing Detroiters care about.

While race frustratingly seems to be at least part of many of the issues in metro Detroit — that’s metro Detroit, not just the city — poll numbers, as well as dozens of conversations I have had with neighbors, residents and business owners suggest that the race of the candidate is much less of a factor than effectiveness.

When Coleman Young won the mayoral election in 1973, race undoubtedly was an issue: We were only six years removed from a major insurrection — I use that term instead of “riot” because it more accurately reflects the cause: Blacks held little sway in the city’s political power structure back in 1967, and had virtually no say in policies that affected their lives and living conditions; also black Detroiters were being brutalized by police at an alarming rate courtesy of the controversial anti-crime initiative known as STRESS.

(Page 2 of 2)

Along came Young, raised on the streets of Black Bottom and union ranks to political prominence; finally promising blacks a seat at the decision table in a city they now largely populated.

And while race played a role in Young’s election, the more poignant issue was always equality and service: the right to be treated fairly and enjoy the same freedoms as anyone else — living where you choose, with safe streets where police are your allies and not your adversaries, with good schools where our children can learn and grow into productive citizens, and convenient and functional amenities and city services commensurate with the tax dollars we pay to provide them.

Fast forward 40 years to 2013 and the quest for equality and services for residents remains the same. But the catalyst in this election is different.

“When I voted for Coleman Young, black people in Detroit were largely being attacked from one side — the white power structure — and Coleman represented a breathe of fresh air, with a political savvy and toughness that finally made us feel like somebody had our backs,” said Bill, a 71-year-old retired city worker who lives on the northwest side of Detroit. He didn’t want to give his last name because he said he worried about backlash from friends and current city workers.

“These days it seems like we are catching hell from both sides,” Bill continued. He pointed to what he called the nullification of city voters’ rights when Gov. Rick Snyder appointed an emergency manager, essentially rendering Detroit’s elected officials moot, and the corruption of former city administrations. He mentioned former Mayor Kwame Kilaptrick and former City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, both of whom were convicted of defrauding the city and its residents.

“It seems almost worse when you feel like your own people are selling you out for a few bucks,” Bill said referring to the fact Kilpatrick and Conyers are African American and from Detroit.

Now, Bill says, he feels disappointed and cheated.

Bill would not say which mayoral candidate he plans to vote for. When I asked him whether race was a factor, he looked me straight in the eye and said: “Nope. Not this time.”

He said, simply, that he will cast his ballot for the person who can “keep the streetlights on, make sure police and firefighters come when I call, and who can give me a reason to stay and others a reason to move here. I’ve got grandbabies and great-grandbabies, and I want them to be able to grow up safe like anybody else.”

And, by and large, those were the same answers I got from most of the people I talked to: They simply want elected officials who will do right by residents.

So, while race may be a few paragraphs in whatever story is written Tuesday night, it shouldn’t be the headline. And anyone who really spends some time getting into the neighborhoods and actually talking to residents will know that.