Jack & Jill Politics

I wrote about the EbonyExperiment back in December (read it, here).

MSNBC recently did an interview with the couple behind the project. Check it out:

Okay. Go to any major city and you’ll probably find a Chinatown, right? Ever shopped at the local Bodega? Does your city have a Little Italy?

Seems like every other ethnic group gets to build for and support their own EXCEPT for Black people. Chinese-Americans, Hispanics, Indian-Americans, Ethnic Whites . . . all of these groups have no problem supporting their own.

And you know what? More power to them. After all, isn’t that the “American Dream”? Isn’t this the classic story of the American immigrant? People come to this country to start their own businesses so that they can give back to their families and communities. That’s cool.

But let black folk even THINK of doing the same and we get lectures of reverse racism and self-segregation.

Reverse-Racism???

Look around you. Chances are we don’t own the local corner store in our neighborhoods. We don’t run the local nail salon. We’re not the local tailor. We’re not the local dry-cleaner?

So how is someone gonna lecture US about racial bias when so much of our hard-earned money goes to businesses that

1. We don’t own; and
2. Don’t necessarily have an obligation to invest in our communities?

Yet we faithfully patron these businesses despite a full understanding that very little, if any, of the money we spend will ever make it back to the black community.

Let me make it clear. This is not about tearing these other businesses down (like I said, more power to them). Rather, this is about building black business UP! What’s wrong with that?