Will you do this? Buy only from minority owned businesses?

[AmthaLal]

Fellow desis living outside India.

What do you think? Would you do this to help out your own brethren?

I know...I know...its not that easy. But provide your viewpoints thinking this family is yours. And how would you do it in as much possible way you can.

I think this guy and his wife are doing right thing at some extent. But they are very highly educated and PATHETIC. Because they live in predominantly upscale white neighborhood though.

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

Ebony Experiment encourages other African-Americans to do the same.

Maggie Anderson drives 14 miles to buy groceries, which might seem curious given that she lives in bustling Oak Park. She and her husband, John, patronize gas stations in Rockford and Phoenix, Ill. They travel 18 miles to a health food store in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood for vitamins, supplements and personal care products.

The reason? They want to solve what they call "the crisis in the black commu- nity." They want to, as they say, "buy black."

The Andersons, African-Americans who rose from humble means, are attempting to spend their money for one year exclusively with black-owned businesses and are encouraging other African-Americans to do the same. It is part experiment, part social activism campaign.

They call it the "Ebony Experiment."

"More than anything, this is a learning thing," said Maggie Anderson, who grew up in the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami and holds a law degree and an MBA from the University of Chicago. "We know it's controversial, and we knew that coming in."

But the Andersons said they also have known that a thriving black economy is fundamental to restoring impoverished African-American and other "underserved" communities, and they have discussed for years trying to find a way to address the problem.

What they came up with is provocative. One anonymous letter mailed to their home accused the Andersons of "unabashed, virulent racism." "Because of you," the writer stated, "we will totally avoid black suppliers. Because of you, we will dodge every which way to avoid hiring black employees."

Apart from that letter, a solid majority of comments they have received have been encouraging, the Andersons said, adding that most people see the endeavor as beneficial to all.

"Supporting your own isn't necessarily exclusive," said John Anderson, a financial adviser who grew up in Detroit and has a Harvard University degree in economics and an MBA from Northwestern University, "and you're not going to convince everybody of that."

The undertaking "is an academic test about how to reinvest in an underserved community" and lessen society's burden, John Anderson said. Focusing the estimated $850 billion annual black buying power on black businesses strengthens those business and creates more businesses, more jobs and stronger families, schools and neighborhoods, the Andersons and other advocates said.

"When a thriving African-American or urban community is realized, certainly as a society as a whole, we all win," John Anderson said.

They are using a public relations firm, have created a slick Web site—ebonyexperiment.com—have been laying the groundwork for nearly two years and have enlisted researchers from Northwestern to detail and extrapolate the impact of their spending.

Still, the first two months posed challenges in finding stores that meet what Maggie Anderson called her "exacting standards." Her latest crisis is finding shoes and clothes for the couple's toddler daughters.

The Andersons buy gasoline cards from black-owned stations in Phoenix and Rockford and use the cards elsewhere. After several weeks of searching, Maggie Anderson found Farmers Best Market, 1424 W. 47th St., Chicago, a black-owned grocery 14 miles from their home, and God First, God Last, God Always Dollar and Up General Store, 2243 E. 71st St., a black-owned general merchandise establishment 18 miles from their house.

They moved their personal accounts to Covenant Bank in Chicago but have been unable to switch their mortgage and student loans to black-owned financial institutions. Their utilities payments will continue going to the companies collecting those now. Maggie Anderson said she has struggled to find financial support for the Ebony Experiment's grander plans, and she lamented the campaign's low national prominence.

Lawrence Hamer, associate professor of marketing at DePaul University, called the Andersons' project "brave and courageous" and said its logic was "exactly right." But it probably will be futile in achieving meaningful impact in the black economy, he said.

"It's just so hard for a small group of individuals to have an impact on something that's so huge," said Hamer, an African-American. "It's almost like a viral marketing campaign. It only works if enough people catch the virus."

Even if they do catch the virus, he said, it is extremely difficult "to get people's attention to change their behavior in any significant way."

Maggie Anderson conceded that "it's still little by little and it's still a lot of work, but I'm still very committed to this."

Although it may be one of the more well-organized and monitored projects of its kind, the Ebony Experiment is not the only buying black venture, said James E. Clingman, a prolific writer on African-American economic empowerment who teaches a class on black entrepreneurship at the University of Cincinnati.

African-Americans have been buying black for more than a century, Clingman said. Booker T. Washington, long an advocate for African-American economic power, was an early proponent, and African-Americans have been forming black-buying cooperatives for decades, Clingman said.

But thriving black businesses began dissolving in the mid-1960s, when African-Americans focused on political power and civil rights and began patronizing white-owned businesses under the misconception that buying white signified blacks' upward socioeconomic mobility, Clingman said.

"Unfortunately, many black people abandoned their own businesses and supported others, thinking that politics was the way out," he said. "Politics still will not get you anywhere unless you have an economic base. Quite frankly, I'd rather have more black businesses than black politicians."

In June, Karriem Beyah opened Farmers Best Market, which he calls "the only African-American grocery store in Illinois that offers a full line of fresh market products." Since being featured on the Ebony Experiment Web site, Beyah said, he has experienced "incremental increases in the customer count" and received numerous e-mails and phone calls of support.

He said he believes in the mission.

"We, as African-Americans, support everyone," he said. "The Ebony Experiment is saying, 'Listen, let's pay attention to us. Let's give some support.'

"The Ebony Experiment can bring awareness, and in that awareness comes better profits and better services and better opportunities. It just grows from there."

[dollyg]

not if it costs double, if it costs the same, and within reach then yes.
If it means driving 40 miles, no.

[rameshp]

Originally Posted by AmthaLal

Fellow desis living outside India.

What do you think? Would you do this to help out your own brethren?

I know...I know...its not that easy. But provide your viewpoints thinking this family is yours. And how would you do it in as much possible way you can.

I think this guy and his wife are doing right thing at some extent. But they are very highly educated and PATHETIC. Because they live in predominantly upscale white neighborhood though.

This is rediculous! and you are saying its right to a certain extent? If all the whites decide to do this, will your business last a day? I hate this 'minority' mentality!

[Desi24]

Originally Posted by rameshp

This is rediculous! and you are saying its right to a certain extent? If all the whites decide to do this, will your business last a day? I hate this 'minority' mentality!

I agree with you RameshP. When you travel far to buy items based on race, you are hurting small businesses in your own community. As a small businessman I am totally against this mentality.

[echarcha]

I will always look for best price, quality and convenience to get a product or service.

[DesiBaba]

ohhhh! this couple is a negroid couple? it makes sense now.. i was a bit confused initially..i thought a white couple is buying black only shit

[Rakhi]

Originally Posted by AmthaLal

Fellow desis living outside India.

What do you think? Would you do this to help out your own brethren?

I know...I know...its not that easy. But provide your viewpoints thinking this family is yours. And how would you do it in as much possible way you can.

I think this guy and his wife are doing right thing at some extent. But they are very highly educated and PATHETIC. Because they live in predominantly upscale white neighborhood though.

I am not really specific about which store I buy from as long as its the best price/quality. But one thing I noticed is that vegetables are much cheaper in an Asian store than the other North American chains, specially tomatoes, carrots, spinach and other fresh veggies. Its almost like half the price with the same quality.
So for veggies I tend to go to an Asian store. But only because they have best price/quality. So it actually depends on which product I am buying.

[Premi]

Originally Posted by Rakhi

So for veggies I tend to go to an Asian store. But only because they have best price/quality. So it actually depends on which product I am buying.

exactly, I ve to go to Asian store once every month to get packaged food and indian style-pitas. nowhere I can find our paneer( tried cottage cheese, feta, extra-firm soya etc. ) only in our stores. but for all the snacks/drinks/juices/salads/breads/candies(eye too) I go to any chain-store whichever is nearby.

[Sane Less]

Well, for me it is the other way... I go out of the way not to buy products from peaceful countries. Just the other day my son liked this jacket... but it was made in pukestan... so sorry, no can do. He literally had tears in his eyes... but I would not give in. Who knows how the money will land with some terrorist... to take the blood of someone close to me. A few tears of my own to save the blood of someone's loved one... any time.

[echarcha]

Originally Posted by Rakhi

I am not really specific about which store I buy from as long as its the best price/quality. But one thing I noticed is that vegetables are much cheaper in an Asian store than the other North American chains, specially tomatoes, carrots, spinach and other fresh veggies. Its almost like half the price with the same quality.
So for veggies I tend to go to an Asian store. But only because they have best price/quality. So it actually depends on which product I am buying.

In Bay Area desi stores, the produce is fresh mainly on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Rest of the times, depending on the popularity of the store, the produce is not very fresh. Also the difference I found between Safeway and desi stores is that you can confidently pick up any onion and you are sure it will be fine. Many desi stores have sub standard onions which are rotten from the inside. But at Safeway you pay the price for a neatly arranged store and always fresh produce.

[Rakhi]

Originally Posted by echarcha

Many desi stores have sub standard onions which are rotten from the inside. But at Safeway you pay the price for a neatly arranged store and always fresh produce.

ya this true but i guess once you know a particular store which stock's well then it gets easier. The only time I had a problem with rotten oranges at a desi store and they replaced the entire bag with fresh ones.

[dirty]

Originally Posted by rameshp

If all the whites decide to do this,

They will be called racial.......

[BABU_HYDERABADI]

Originally Posted by dirty

They will be called racial.......

they would be branded KKK

[echarcha]

Originally Posted by dirty

They will be called racial.......

You are so right. Sometimes I wonder that just like BET (Black Entertainment Television) is a channel on TV, what would happen if there was a WET?

[dirty]

Just like Black Negro Fund they should have White Boy fund.