"They just want to buy black" (Oak Park: neighborhoods, buying)

[ajolotl]

This article on the front page of the Trib

Oak Park couple travel far and wide to buy only from black-owned businesses -- chicagotribune.com

elicited over 1000 replies within several hours on the [domain blocked due to spam] forum. To summarize, it is about a highly educated black Oak Park couple who have committed themselves to buying from black-owned businesses exclusively (at least for a year as a sort of experiment). The purpose is obvious.

I thought it was a stretch but a decent idea (any form of self-reliance to inject some economic vitality into those communities is better than victimization, government assistance, etc.). The responses though were almost uniformly extreme in opposition.

I'm curious how people on this forum feel. I've been warned that the [domain blocked due to spam] posters don't exactly represent the mainstream viewpoint as much as it might seem.

[djkkt6]

So this family is blatantly being racist, and proud of it?

Could you imagine the outrage if a white family did this?

Ridiculous.

[jdiddy]

Fine by me. Anything to encourage black entrepeneurship.

[At1WithNature]

it's their choice to do what they want with their money. i don't see any problems here other than this being a spark plug for the real, underlying issues.

[Chicagoaklandish]

I'm not mad at them at all. Anyone remember Public Enemy's "Shut 'Em Down?"

[Rickers]

Who gives a flying rats ass where and how people shop ? I would prefer if people here bought products made in the U.S.A. to help create jobs but really it's their money and good on them for doing what they want with it rather than having them being told where and how to spend it.

[ajolotl]

That seemed to be the consensus reaction on the [domain blocked due to spam] forum.

I agree with you that if the racial roles were reversed we'd get 24 hours of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and that this points to a degree of hypocrisy and double-standard that is always present in these debates.

This isn't a perfect or neat solution by any means, but I'm still not offended by it. The black community is a complete mess and any attempt to take initiative and take charge of their own situation can only be a good thing in my opinion. Anyhow, they wouldn't be the first ethnic group to do some form of this to ensure their economic independence.

Originally Posted by djkkt6

So this family is blatantly being racist, and proud of it?

Could you imagine the outrage if a white family did this?

Ridiculous.

[At1WithNature]

the thing is, blacks or anyone could just say...hey you can go to WalMart and buy white or any other large corporation! since it's a minority purchasing from another minority, racist or not, it's quite common. why else would so many businesses, in certain neighborhoods, put up "black owned" signs in their windows? to keep criminals away? perhaps.

[ParkerP]

Well the couple said they were going to do this for one year. So is it possible to be racist for one year?

[Lookout Kid]

I think I already buy almost exlusively from white-owned or white-controlled businesses without even trying. Most of us do.

There was a home-construction company in the Milwaukee area that used to advertise as a "Christian-Based Company". That used to drive me nuts. It was a "wink wink" to other Christians that you should do business with them instead of other companies because they "think like you do". To me, there is not place for this kind of crap in the capitalist market place, and I view it as a form of discrimination.

I can see what this couple is trying to do, and as a temporary experiment it doesn't bother me quite as much. But if they decided to actually do this in their life permanently I would call that blatantly racist and discriminatory.