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What about the LA riots? Wasn't the destruction of the Korean businesses that dominate the African American retail sector in LA a reflection of black dismay at their own failures? For example, not owning any of the businesses in their own neighborhoods? It would be bad enough if these businesses were owned by white Americans, but "immigrant Asians" escalated black dismay at their own failures to a whole other level.
I'm late to the thread but....
The rioters, who came in all colors, were equal opportunity burners.
They also burned down businesses owned by Magic Johnson and OJ Simpson.
Just reminded me of when I was studying the growth of Prairie settlements in Western Canada. While the Ukrainian homesteaders were plotting their rural village they voted that they didn't want "the Jew" in their community.
At first I was shocked by this overt "racism", but when I read about how in the old country Jews were usually the innkeepers who ran the village bars, extended credit (often for booze)....then the full picture came together. No booze, fewer debts, less alcoholism, fewer dysfunctional families, less abuse....more $$$$$...and who knows, perhaps less anti-Semitism.
The most successful AA businessman in B'ham history was named AG Gaston, he was often the guy who bailed civil rights protestors out of jail. He was a miner and sold sandwiches on the side, took those savings and opened a funeral home, then later a bank, etc. ----By the time he died in the mid-90s, he was worth over $100 million.
The worst thing that happened to AAs in American history was exposure to one of the lowest cultures w/n the European spectrum (think redneck stereotype)---a culture that devalued education, devalued savings (which both Booker T. Washington and WEB Dubois use to complain about), always fighting, promiscuity, etc.----what made it worst was that over 90% of AAs were still in the deep south by 1910. AAs have the dubious distinction of being one of the earliest and latest immigrant groups in American history (we were one of the last groups to be urbanized and thus attain better skills/education).
The progressives of FDR and onward threw a major wrench into that development.
Anyway, you can't have businesses w/o capital----which usually involves underconsuming for long-term gain in the distant future. Materialism usually reigns the day.
African Americans can achieve what other Asians have achieved!
With hard work and determination, you can do whatever you want to do in America!
That is a stupid statement.
Asians do so well in America because only the most educated or most monied Asians can afford to relocate to America. If you don't have money to start a business or the right education and skills to get a good job over here in the States or have the money to even get here, you aren't going to be able to just hop over the Pacific to America. We have such a huge impoverished Central American population in America because all they have to do is hop a fence to cross the border to get into the States. All of the dirt poor Asians in China and elsewhere who work as slaves in sweatshops assembling everything you own (check the tags of your clothes, gadgets and everything else to see where it was made and it wasn't America!) aren't upper middle class math whizzes who live in gated in communities.
Also, not all Asian American groups do well in America. That is a media perpetuated lie. Southeast Asians from war-torn countries like Cambodians, Vietnamese and Hmong have much higher poverty rates than both blacks and Latinos in America. These groups are more likely to live in the ghetto alongside blacks than own stores there. That is the case in many low-income neighborhoods in California from Long Beach to Oakland. In addition, Asians in America, as a whole, only seem to have higher income because they mostly live in more expensive regions of the country like California and New York.
Black people are a native-born population in America. Because of that you have the whole spectrum from the good to the bad. There is no way to keep poor black people out of America because they were born and raised here. Although America has done a good job ghettoizing poor blacks to decaying inner cities. But America sure does its best to keep Asian immigration low only allowing those with the most money and education to move over here.
In predominantly black inner city areas, Koreans act as the middle man between whites and blacks. Koreans peddle liquor and unhealthy snacks produced by wealthy faceless, yet very white owned, name-brand corporations like Budweiser and Frito Lays. Big name white-owned corporations are afraid to open up stores in the ghetto. Koreans have the balls to open up stores in some of the most crime-ridden neighborhoods in America. They also put their own lives at stake in doing this. Something whites who are wealthy enough to open up businesses would never do. In big cities across America, it is not uncommon for Asian business owners in black neighborhoods to be seriously assaulted and or even murdered.
Last edited by LunaticVillage; 05-14-2013 at 10:40 PM..
Asians do so well in America because only the most educated or most monied Asians can afford to relocate to America. If you don't have money to start a business or the right education and skills to get a good job over here in the States or have the money to even get here, you aren't going to be able to just hop over the Pacific to America. We have such a huge impoverished Central American population in America because all they have to do is hop a fence to cross the border to get into the States. All of the dirt poor Asians in China and elsewhere who assembled everything you own (check the tags of your clothes, gadgets and everything else to see where it was made and it wasn't America!) aren't upper middle class math whizzes who live in gated in communities.
Also, not all Asian American groups do well in America. That is a media perpetuated lie. Southeast Asians from war-torn countries like Cambodians, Vietnamese and Hmong have much higher poverty rates than both blacks and Latinos in America. In addition, Asians in America, as a whole, only seem to have higher income because they mostly live in more expensive regions of the country like California and New York.
Black people are a native-born population in America. Because of that you have the whole spectrum from the good to the bad. There is no way to keep poor black people out of America because they were born and raised here. Although America has done a good job ghettoizing poor blacks to decaying inner cities. But America sure does its best to keep Asian immigration low only allowing those with the most money and education to move over here.
You make some good points but I think you are exaggerating the wealth of Asians who have moved to America. I don't have the data, but I doubt rich Koreans are the ones moving into black neighborhoods in LA and opening mom and pop stores. Why would anyone do that if they were already well off?
Liberals in big cities don't allow non union low paying jobs in black areas. Most groceries are scared to set up shop.
Asians fill the niche.
That's a load of baloney. It's more like many supermarket chains aren't interested in inner-city locations because they perceive higher costs of operation, less demand for premium priced products due to the income demographic, perceptions of increased security costs, and higher land acquisition costs. Not to mention just plain old stereotyping about the market segment.
In reality, a lot of urban areas are just underserved by supermarkets (and access to fresh produce) and there are market opportunities. Pathmark opened a store in Harlem, and it's doing great because that area has been underserved.
You make some good points but I think you are exaggerating the wealth of Asians who have moved to America. I don't have the data, but I doubt rich Koreans are the ones moving into black neighborhoods in LA and opening mom and pop stores. Why would anyone do that if they were already well off?
I think the point made is that many Asian immigrants come equipped with the educational and skill background that will help them be successful in the US. Call it knowledge capital. Your Korean greengrocer or dry cleaner operator may well have been a teacher or an engineer back in Seoul, and has kids going to UCLA.
This also explains why Cuban Americans have been seen as more successful, compared with Mexican Americans. Many of the Cubans who came over were of the educated middle class. Even if they only had a few dollars in the pocket, what was important were/are their skills (Cuba has long had a very high literacy rate, among the highest in the Caribbean and Latin America).
I don't know that these merchants "make a killing."
I'm more inclined to believe that the profits are pretty slim. In any case, I don't see owning a small store or market as being very attractive as a career. Seems more like a pain in the ass to me. The owners and workers in those stores don't look very happy to be there.
At the end of the day, its a good mutual relationship. The Asians have some goods to sell, and black folks have money to spend. If they didn't, the Asians wouldn't be there.
So why question it? There is nothing wrong with the status quo.
I'm assuming you're refering to immigrants. They are able to get started because they buy places cheap....places that more established businessmen might not find attractive. Sometimes, a whole extended family will go together to get bank loans, etc, to get started.
They then proceed to work a 16 or 20 hour day, and use elderly parents or teenage children for 'help', rather than hiring outsiders. They are able to charge high prices, because often they're the only outlet for much of this merchandise in the area, and customers will pay extra for 'convenience'.
I'm not sure many of them are making a "killing"...many of them aren't. But they're new here, they recognize the oportunity for those willing to work 7 days a week, and they enjoy the freedom of 'being your own boss'. And their culture makes 'duty to family'....and to parents...a serious obligation. When the whole FAMILY pitches in, a 'killing' is easy to make...or at least, a living.
Exactly. They don't have the resources to get into the posh areas but they can swing a cheap place in a bad neighborhood and they're willing to work incredibly long hours and get the whole family to pitch in to the effort. Most of them don't get rich but they do ok. A better question is why so many Asian immigrants are locked out of traditional jobs and thus end up starting their own small business. I suspect that many of them are educated but that certifications don't transfer to the US (if you're say a lawyer or what not) so self employment becomes the best possible option for them despite the fact that on a per hour basis they're not making very much. They're just working an incredible number of hours, take advantage of free family labor, and settling for less desirable areas which the major chain stores have rejected as undesirable. Essentially, that's a marginal business even in the best of times.
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We have such a huge impoverished Central American population in America because all they have to do is hop a fence to cross the border to get into the States. All of the dirt poor Asians in China and elsewhere who work as slaves in sweatshops assembling everything you own (check the tags of your clothes, gadgets and everything else to see where it was made and it wasn't America!) aren't upper middle class math whizzes who live in gated in communities. 
