#The Fascinating True Story Behind White Boy Rick

Richard Wershe Jr. grew up with his working-class family on the east side of Detroit during the height of the War on Drugs. At this point in time, Detroit was known as the “Murder Capital of America,” due almost exclusively to the heightened violence that accompanied the crack epidemic. Richard Wershe Sr. was an illegal arms dealer, and the movie claims that Wershe Jr. was pressured to become a drug snitch to protect his dad from some gun charges. It is true that Wershe Sr. was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for illegal gun possession, but according to those actually involved, it wasn’t about protection, it was about money.

In actuality, the FBI was able to learn through surveillance footage and informant tips that Wershe Jr. had frequently visited the home of the Curry Brothers, a family of Black drug dealers who ended up on the FBI radar because the leader, Johnny Curry, was engaged to the niece of Detroit mayor, Coleman Young. At the same time, Rick’s sister, Dawn, a drug addict, had gone missing, and Wershe Sr. reached out to Detroit FBI agents looking for help. The FBI then came back with an offer, and both Wershes Sr. and Jr. would become informants to get Dawn back, and would be paid for any information provided. Despite Wershe Jr.’s young age, Wershe Sr. absolutely offered his son to the FBI to make money, regardless of how dangerous it would be for a teenager to invade the underbelly of Detroit’s drug ring.