I could not believe this when I read it. This has to be one of the most racist things I’ve read in a long time.
The “Empowerment Experiment”? Would white people pledging to avoid black-owned stores and only buy from other white people be considered empowerment? Or would it be considered racist?
‘Buy Black’ Becomes Movement
One-Year Pledge: A couple’s experiment to patronize only black-owned businesses catches on.
By Errin Haines, The Associated Press
Saturday, May 30, 2009
It’s been two months since 2-year-old Cori pulled the gold stud from her left earlobe, and the piercing is threatening to close as her mother, Maggie Anderson, hunts for a replacement.
It’s not that the earring was all that rare — but finding the right store has become a quest of Quixotic proportions.
Maggie and John Anderson, of Chicago, vowed four months ago that for one year, they would try to patronize only black-owned businesses. The “Empowerment Experiment” is the reason John had to suffer for hours with a stomach ache and Maggie no longer gets that brand-name lather when she washes her hair. A grocery trip is a 14-mile odyssey.
Maggie Anderson, right, talking with Michael Hill, has begun a movement with her husband John in which people pledge to only patronize black-owned businesses for one year. |
“We kind of enjoy the sacrifice because we get to make the point … but I am going without stuff and I am frustrated on a daily basis,” Maggie Anderson said.
So far, the Andersons have spent hundreds of dollars with black businesses, from grocery stores to dry cleaners. But the couple still hasn’t found a mortgage lender, home security system vendor or toy store. Nonetheless, they’re hoping to expand the endeavor beyond their Chicago home.
Plans are under way to track spending among supporters nationwide and build a national database of quality black businesses. The first affiliate chapter has been launched in Atlanta, and the couple has established a foundation to raise funds for black businesses and an annual convention.
Now, the Andersons are following up with 4,000 people who signed up for the experiment on their Web site to gauge their commitment and set up online accounts to track their spending. Hundreds have also joined the experiment’s Facebook page, Maggie Anderson said.
There are 1 million black businesses in the United States accounting for more than $100 billion in annual sales, according to the National Black Chamber of Commerce. The latest U.S. Census numbers report that blacks have more than $800 billion in expendable income each year.
The Andersons track their spending on their Web site and estimate about 55 percent of their monthly spending is with black businesses for things like day care, groceries, car maintenance and home improvements.
One of the businesses highlighted by the Empowerment Experiment is Brenda Brown’s Atlanta wine boutique, a shop with a growing black clientele. She said the project can help overcome the problems many black consumers lament.
“When we were a community of black folks who could not go to the white stores, our community of black stores flourished,” Brown said. “When we were given the opportunity to go into the white store, it was like nothing else mattered anymore and we wanted to go to the white store, regardless of what the black store provided. We could have the same or better products if we supported (black businesses) in the same way.”
