For Christi - Black Neighborhoods

cawacko said:
His point, as is many other blacks, is because they are relatively small in numbers they do lose their culture. That's why they are anti gentrification. That's why we have determination from some blacks to only spend money on black owned businesses in black neighborhoods.
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I think most businesses appeal to all races and nationalities. Now maybe you'll have the hairdresser who specializes in cornrows operating out of a black neighborhood but for almost everything else people go to the mall.
 
christiefan915 said:
I think most businesses appeal to all races and nationalities. Now maybe you'll have the hairdresser who specializes in cornrows operating out of a black neighborhood but for almost everything else people go to the mall.
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His and many other blacks point is they want a black community with black owned businesses and blacks are spending money among themselves. Just one of many examples is so many Koreans owning corner markets in lower income black communities me they want that changed. This goes back to Malcolm X and well before him.

You remember FUBU - for us by us - as one example.

And they're not talking about not serving other races but they want "money staying in the community".
 
cawacko said:
His and many other blacks point is they want a black community with black owned businesses and blacks are spending money among themselves. Just one of many examples is so many Koreans owning corner markets in lower income black communities me they want that changed. This goes back to Malcolm X and well before him.

You remember FUBU - for us by us - as one example.

And they're not talking about not serving other races but they want "money staying in the community".
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Here's an interesting article I found while googling. The author wrote a book about spending a year shopping only at black businesses.

MA: Oh, the worst thing was what we learned about economies in black neighborhoods. We assumed, just like other little ethnic enclaves like Little Italy or Greek Town or Chinatown, that for predominantly black neighborhoods all the black businesses there would be owned by the local people. But easily over 90 percent of the businesses on the West Side—and it's the same way all over the country—are owned by people who are not black and do not live in that community. So it's not a "buy local" thing, because these folks set up shop in the black community, sell their wares, make their money, hardly ever employ the local people there—and they put the steel bar over the door, pack up at 6:30, get in their car, drive to their suburb, and take that money with them. And that was the whole reason that these communities suffer the way they do: The everyday exit of the wealth in those neighborhoods directly leads to social crises there.

So I'm literally walking around and talking to people, "Is there a black-owned restaurant, or a black-owned dry cleaner?" and folks are looking at me like I'm insane. And if I didn't know this, I'm sure that folks outside the black community don't have this as part of their reality or part of their picture for black America. When we talk about black people, the black situation, problems in the black community, you know, we start with, "Black kids are least likely to graduate from school; black unemployment is four times higher than the national average," all these numbers. But why can't we include that over 90 percent of businesses in the black community are not owned by black people or local residents? If we were to add that to the conversation, maybe folks would say, "Oh, well no wonder things are so bad there," and start thinking about things in a different way instead of allowing those awful numbers to be a reflection of our propensities. Why is it that my people are just supposed to be the perpetual consumer class, and everyone else is supposed to benefit from our money?

http://www.motherjones.com/media/2012/02/maggie-anderson-our-black-year
 
christiefan915 said:
Here's an interesting article I found while googling. The author wrote a book about spending a year shopping only at black businesses.

MA: Oh, the worst thing was what we learned about economies in black neighborhoods. We assumed, just like other little ethnic enclaves like Little Italy or Greek Town or Chinatown, that for predominantly black neighborhoods all the black businesses there would be owned by the local people. But easily over 90 percent of the businesses on the West Side—and it's the same way all over the country—are owned by people who are not black and do not live in that community. So it's not a "buy local" thing, because these folks set up shop in the black community, sell their wares, make their money, hardly ever employ the local people there—and they put the steel bar over the door, pack up at 6:30, get in their car, drive to their suburb, and take that money with them. And that was the whole reason that these communities suffer the way they do: The everyday exit of the wealth in those neighborhoods directly leads to social crises there.

So I'm literally walking around and talking to people, "Is there a black-owned restaurant, or a black-owned dry cleaner?" and folks are looking at me like I'm insane. And if I didn't know this, I'm sure that folks outside the black community don't have this as part of their reality or part of their picture for black America. When we talk about black people, the black situation, problems in the black community, you know, we start with, "Black kids are least likely to graduate from school; black unemployment is four times higher than the national average," all these numbers. But why can't we include that over 90 percent of businesses in the black community are not owned by black people or local residents? If we were to add that to the conversation, maybe folks would say, "Oh, well no wonder things are so bad there," and start thinking about things in a different way instead of allowing those awful numbers to be a reflection of our propensities. Why is it that my people are just supposed to be the perpetual consumer class, and everyone else is supposed to benefit from our money?

http://www.motherjones.com/media/2012/02/maggie-anderson-our-black-year
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I actually saw her speak about this (online) at TedX. A very pro black friend posted the link on Facebook and I watched. It speaks to the point the OP author is making about wanting more black owned businesses in the community.

I can't speak to the what the correct focus should be going forward but I understand the desire for more black owned businesses.
 
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