Don’t Spend Your Money Where You’re Not Appreciated
A McDonald’s restaurant in China made headlines this week for refusing to serve people from Africa because of the coronavirus.
The fact that that happened, and Africans were singled out for the coronavirus spread, is retarded and hypocritical.
However, that type of discrimination is something that people of African descent experience around the globe on a daily basis.
While I do not condone any type of racial discrimination at all, sometimes I wish that every racist business owner would let people of color know how they feel so that people of color can boycott their business for eternity.
People of African decent could then spend all of their money with other people of African decent and we will see how fast racism would turn into a reality check for some bigots when they realize how powerful the Black dollar is.
Around 2010, I had planned to spend my birthday celebrating with some people at a popular bar on Washington Avenue in Houston.
However, when my sister and I got there, the bar refused to wait on us although they had no problem waiting on the people around us.
Those other customers ran the gamut of every other race on the planet.
My sister and I were the only two African-Americans in the building although we had more people coming.
I had attended that bar with some White friends from high school earlier that year.
The crowd was mixed.
The disc jockey played African-American artists like Whitney Houston and the White girls I went to the club with that night bought my drinks so I had no real interaction with staff or management.
So when my sister and I received such blatantly racist treatment (after all what else could it have been because I was the best dressed and classiest cat in the building), I was shocked.
I wrote an op-Ed on my birthday, instead of celebrating, about why I would never go back to that bar.
Furthermore, I let it be known that I really had no problem with not being wanted in that establishment because I would rather spend my money where it is appreciated than accidentally spending it with bigoted businesspeople.
During the Civil Rights Movement, many African-American marchers and protestors held signs that said something to the effect of do not spend your money where you cannot work.
At a time in which segregation was the law of the land in many states thanks to a bigot named “Jim Crow,” many African-Americans patronized businesses that probably wouldn’t hire them to clean up the building.
That sentiment made perfect sense.
If you do not respect my brown skin, do not expect my green dollars, or silver and copper coins.
Although the Civil Rights Movement in America occurred decades ago, people of color still fight the same fight throughout America and even as far away as China.
This incident in China should encourage the same movement that grew from the unarmed killings of African-Americans at the hands of some police officers.
Realizing that racism would always be a part of American culture, rapper Killer Mike encouraged African-Americans to start putting money in African-American owned banks so that we could build wealth for our community and future generations.
Let’s do the same now.
Although no one should overgeneralize a race, nationality or a business owner based on their skin color because there are millions of great non-Black business owners and millions of horrible Black business owners.
But obviously African-Americans should try to support African-American owned business whenever possible.
I have made that commitment during the coronavirus quarantine supporting African-American owned restaurants in Houston like Turkey Leg Hut, Frenchy’s Chicken and Burn’s Original BBQ.
If a person, group or company discriminates against an entire race, we should discriminate with the way we spend our money.
To be honest, African-Americans in the “hood” keep a lot of foreign-owned companies in business.
If those business owners do not respect us, do not expect us to put money in their pocket.
The quest for racial justice in America has always been solely about economics and success.
Montgomery buses did not become integrated because White people felt sorry for Rosa Parks.
The bus company felt sorry for themselves when bankruptcy was on the horizon because they alienated most of their client base, which was predominantly African-American.
College basketball coaches like Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp did not integrate his team because of his love for the African-American athlete.
He integrated after a Texas Western team, playing only African-Americans, defeated his all-White Wildcats for the 1966 NCAA championship on national television.
If Rupp wanted to remain successful, and keep his job, he had to change with the times.
Businesses have to realize in order to be successful you have to appreciate all of your customers, followers and/or fans.
If you limit your customer base, you limit your coin (or money).
Who in the world is that racist that they will hurt themselves in the pockets?
Obviously, some people are because when I get money from African-Americans or non-African-Americans, it all spends the same.
And trust me, as a business owner I want every penny that is owed to me, regardless of what color my debtor is.
But if that McDonald’s in China is stupid enough to stop Africans from eating at the establishment, they singlehandedly have probably stopped many people of African decent from spending a dime in China or spending their money in any way that would help the country.
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