Are You Buying Black, White or American?

Maggie and John Anderson of Chicago have drawn an interesting line in the sand. According to this article on FoxNews.com, the Anderson's made a decision four months ago to only patronize black-owned business for one year. They are calling it the "Empowerment Experiment" and their first affiliate chapter has launched in Atlanta.

Gregory Price, chairman of the economics department at Moorehouse College says, "it would be nice to see some real, hard data. Otherwise it could just be an episode of ethnic cheerleading." I agree, in part that it could be "ethnic cheerleading", but frankly it goes beyond that. Of course, you have to give Price credit for coming up with a euphemism for racism.

What is ironic is that if a white couple did this, especially if it were a white, Christian couple that only wanted to patronize other white, Christian-owned businesses, it would be deemed extreme racism, intolerant, homophobic and blasted through the media. Heaven forbid, white Christians take care of each other as opposed to wherever they can get a good deal or good service....like they normally do.

Hoever, Italians in the U.S. don't care if they patronize only Italian-owned restaurants. Nor do the Irish or the Germans - not that you see many German restaurants. They also don't care if they patronize "white-owned" doctors or grocery stores.

What they do expect is quality. A restaurant with great food and service. A doctor who graduated from a good school and has a great bedside manner. A grocery store that is clean, has a good selection, convenient hours and friendly, helpful staff.

This country was founded by people seeking to escape religious persecution, taxation without representation and the idea that "all men are created equal". (Read the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence here - We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness).

While we had (past tense) the issue of slavery impact our country, and there are still some people who are racist, the majority of people in this country don't think that way anymore. They want quality goods and services and who that comes from is irrelevant.

It becomes irrelevant until people like the Andersons start a local-turned-national campaign for black people to only patronize black-owned businesses. The attitude that Maggie Anderson carries, "my people have been here 400 years and don't even have a Walgreens to show for it" is the attitude that offends whites, Latinos, Asians, etc.

It is that very attitude that would get whites accused of being racist. It causes white people, especially, to say things like "I didn't own a slave. No one in my family owned a slave. It is simply because I'm not black that you don't want to patronize my business?"

That type of response is what prompts quiet social and racial lines to be drawn in the sand. It causes people to think that black people don't like white people, or Asians, or Latinos.

My company will never do business with the Maggie Andersons of the world. Not because I don't want to. Not because our goods or services aren't good enough. Maggie and John Anderson would rather patronize a black-owned business that may not be as good as mine based on the simple fact that my business is not black-owned.

I'm not old enough to have lived through the civil rights movement, so there are some things I can only understand by reading and learning from older friends of mine. I will never understand what it is like to be black. I'm not going to try.

What I do believe is that what the Andersons are doing is unAmerican and racist. They may be nice people if you meet them face-to-face, but what I have read about their platform is that they wouldn't want anything with me or my business...because I'm white.

John would rather go for days with a stomach ache because he wants to find a black doctor. I just hope that black doctor is in a building that he/she owns or is owned by another black person - and that the bank the building owner got the loan from is a black-owned bank or mortgage company.

I don't think that way and I'm not teaching my children to think that way. I'm personally hopeful that Sean Hannity or someone else smart at FNC decides to challenge the merits of what the Andersons are doing.

I'm going to keep living life the American way. I will seek out the best financial deal possible and get the best service I can get and whether the owner is black, Latino, Asian, or white doesn't matter. I've never had a conversation with anyone where the race of the owner of a business affected the purchase. It sure won't start now.

The United States of America has always been a melting pot of religions and cultures. To draw lines in the sand is not healthy for us. It creates division. Division that is not good for a country, especially now, that is working to get up out of economic challenges.

JoeSixpackAmerican.com would like to encourage any reader of this post to not patronize a business based on race of the owner. If you are going to patronize a business based on a single characteristic, it should be that it is American-owned.

Buying based on race is racism and is not good for our country.

Buying American is nationalism and is good for our country.

Politics & Fashion - One day you're in, the next you are out.

The windy city has had a sordid history in politics with the notorious Chicago Machine.

News coming out today (click here) points to B. Hussein Obama's right-hand man as a key "influencer" in the appointment of B.O.'s open Senate seat. Of course, he will continue to deny any involvement until the taped conversation is made public - or he forced to turn over even more valuable evidence in exchange for the protection of his reputation.

"Change," he said. "Yes we can," they shouted in reponse.

Corrupt politicians...in Chicago. Change?

"Change," he said. "Yes we can," they shouted in response.

The auctioning of a Senate seat for $1,000,000. Change?

"Change," he said. "Yes we can," they shouted in response.

Now they will be leveraging all assets to keep B.O. from stinking.

No wonder President Bush looks disappointed in recent press pictures. He can smell the stink and can't do anything about it.

As a country, B. Hussein Obama was given the big dollars to win the election. Now he's giving the people the change he was offering.

Change...is not always good.

Where are the Hollywood elite defending B.O.'s "honor" or that of his right-hand man in this trying moment of history.

Where are the leftist media who so strongly vouched for a man with a mere 143 days of political experience today?

Wouldn't this be a great time to defend the political circle B. Hussein Obama has surrounded himself with?

They are, not surprisingly, nowhere to be seen. Like an 1800's ghost town with dust blowing in a hot breeze without a tumbleweed left to disturb the deafening silence, the rabid B.O. supporters seem eerily quiet tonight.

This is what it means to be President. Every decision, past and present, will haunt you, follow you. Someone will always want to take you down. Someone will have the skeleton key to the closet and they will open that door when pushed just so far. Someone will always want their big payday to arrive and they will sell that dirty little secret.

They will shake your hand, give you a campaign donation and then turn on you. They will turn on you for your abandonment of what they thought were a new set of ideals they could get behind. Or, they may turn for even that brief moment of power or glory to be 'the source.' The source that can take down would previously have seemed to be an untouchable, unshakable reputation. Down, down it goes.

With this story breaking, it could be the beginining of a glimmer of hope in a city wrought with one of the worst reputations in the political arena. Has Chicago found a David willing to step onto the field and do battle with the city's Philistine giants or a Wyatt Earp willing to fight the 'cowboys' of the infamous Chicago Machine?

The fight is generally not an easy one. But, when good takes a stand against evil - good wins.