Oak Park couple travel far and wide to buy only from black-owne...

tony wrote:

I don't care what anybody else thinks, this is the best thing Black people can do to achieve economic equality.

"Economic equality"? What is that? Blacks have dominated America sports and music for some time. I doubt that Jay Z will be willing to give up his millions so that we can all have economic equality anytime soon, nor should he.

Also, make sure you don't forget to keep using preferred placements at the non-traditionally-black schools like Harvard and Northwestern and U of Chgo. That way, you can use white guilt against the man for all the descrimination you have suffered. I mean, hey, you were likely born in freedom, had no fear of the government trying to kill you because of your religion, and got at least one hot meal per day from a public education system, but you sure suffered.

On the other hand, my family had to flee for their lives because we weren't Muslim and did not want to convert, we had no public education (for girls), and food was NOT guaranteed at all. Sure, we only have lived here for 10 years, but I know that since there is a chance that one of your ancestors might have been a slave in America, you are forever owed something, while we are just forced to work hard in a culture that seems beholden to racial double-standards.

From the rest of us non-whites who flee to America for opportunities at better lives, please stop your complaining. You want to go back to Somalia or Sudan anytime soon? I highly doubt it.

Shop wherever you want. That is a right in America. Perhaps if people shopped locally, the communities would be stronger and more local people could own businesses in their neighborhoods.

Travelling to Rockford, IL for gas is also not environmentally friendly. I guess racism is also bad for the environment.

Glad to see their experiment mirrors the 97% of Blacks who voted for Obama...

makes me feel less "guilty" about buying only from white owned businesses...YES!

So discrimination is cool, now?

Or only for certain groups of people?

If white people only patronized white owned businesses can you imagine the racist garbage Jesse Jackson and his rainbow clan would be spewing

If black-owned businesses are ever going to thrive, the crime rates in their communities will have to go way down. Until then, "experiments" like this, no matter how noble the intention, are a complete waste of time.

Dividing humans by skin color is barbaric.

I understand showing a little extra concern for "your own guys," but this is way over the line.

The "change black to white" examples are valid in this case.

The article had this: "'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."

I wish more people would dig into the root causes of problems in the inner cities!

Forget race and the story itself.

Do you know why the poor areas are a mess? They became worse after the Liberals started their "programs" in the 60s.

See "Black Progress..." By Prof Walter Williams at:
http://www.capmag.com/article.asp...

Yes, the problems are directly and almost comeplely due to liberals. How is this?

Who has controlled these areas since the 60s? You can't blame Bush, you can't blame Republicans and you can't blame Conservatism. But we can blame DEMOCARTS/LIBERALS.

By using the full force of governmnet to keep these people down, the liberals have basically enslaved them.

About all we can say is there is a lot of hopelessness, despair and death. It's been going on for decades.

And all the liberals will do is come up with more "programs" that stifle success and hurt people. Yes, some of the programs provide some temportary help, but they are really "salves" that dull the pain that the liberals caused in the first place.

When Wal-Mart TRIES to come in because they know they'll help the inner cities, the liberals fight it off!

Just as the Democrats were big on slavery 150 years ago, they still are today. Even in the 1920's, "Progressives" were into eugenics. The founder of Planned Parenthood was a big liberal. She also was a Eugenist and she worked to rid the country of undesirables.

While I commend these Andersons for trying, what they should do is work as hard as they can to expose the Liberals and Democrats as the culprits in the keeping-down of the inner cities.

People should get real angry with the liberals/Democrats.

But they live in Oak Park. They want to buy black but they sure don't want to live by them.

mindgames wrote:

<quoted text> Why is it that most whites will claim no culpability whatsoever as far as societal ills go?

Whites blame themselves for everything - and continually. What world do you live in?

Myself, I take blame for what I do, and no more.

You want to blame me for things done by people with whom I share skin color? You're a barbarian.

They will change their minds but for now I see nothing wrong with their choice. No one can change their minds.

THEY WANT IT THIS WAY and it will stay this way.

Obama won't initiate change for people like them.

Good luck. But the real crisis in the black "community" is rooted in rap culture, inept parenting, flunkie kids, and of most of all, the perpetual victim mentality.

Indeed wrote:

If black-owned businesses are ever going to thrive, the crime rates in their communities will have to go way down. Until then, "experiments" like this, no matter how noble the intention, are a complete waste of time.

Crime rates cannot go down there because the liberals have short-circuited Society's ability to deal with bad behaviors. We're all taught ot "tolerate" bad behvaiors and to not judge bad behaviors. So what do we get? More bad behaviors.

Since we can't comment on the small problems, there are more big problems. Everyone lives in fear.

This even affects the police as they have to be real careful. So the police have slowed doing preventative work.

Since liberals will not deal with the real causes, they ahve to make issues up and go after inanimate objects like guns.

About all we can say is there is a lot of hopelessness, despair and death - and that the root causes are due to liberals using the full force of governemnt to enslave these people. They don't have a chance as this has been going on for over forty years.(See my post # 34 above too.)

Jeff wrote:

Glad to see their experiment mirrors the 97% of Blacks who voted for Obama...
makes me feel less "guilty" about buying only from white owned businesses...YES!

Cut the bull$hit. Before Barack every black voter pretty much voted for a white candidate.

If this article was about Polish Americans only shopping at businesses owned by Polish, half of the a$$h oles on here would not be complaining.

I'm not surprised they live in Oak Park. Many Oak Parkers pride themselves in being left-wing nuts trying to outdo each other.

Why don't they move to the south side of Chicago, close to lots of black stores, cleaners, restaurants, gas stations, etc. 63rd and Halsted sounds about right for them.

Oh, right. They don't want to actually LIVE in a black neighborhood amongst all those blacks; they just want to ease their Oak Park limousine liberal guilt by making a big deal about their "Ebony Experiment." What a couple of racist phony wackos.

Guess what - I shop for convenience and good prices. If the store is owned by a white, a black, a Japanese, a Muslim, a gay person, a Pakistani, an ex-con, a Libertarian, whatever. Who cares. IT'S A STORE!

If everyone shopped without racist, sexist, or religious bias, wouldn't that be better for everyone?

mindgames wrote:

<quoted text> Cut the bull *****. Before Barack every black voter pretty much voted for a white candidate.

Well, you're true to your moniker seeing as how before Obama there were no Black presidential candidates in the final run.

mindgames wrote:

<quoted text> Cut the bull *****. Before Barack every black voter pretty much voted for a white candidate.

Ever hear of Harold Washington who was elected mayor of Chicago in 1983? How about all the black aldermen in Chicago for years?(Chicago's Second Ward has been represented by a black alderman since 1915.) How about blacks in the Illinois House and Senate for many years?

As of 2001, whites were the dominant population in 23 Chicago wards, African Americans in 20 wards, and Hispanics in seven wards. A member of the ward's dominant racial or ethnic group represented all but one of these districts in the Chicago council as an alderman.

Do you have a clue how many mayors of large cities have been and are currently are black? Maynard Jackson Jr. was elected Atlanta's first black mayor in 1973.

How about black governors, past and present?

Blacks vote solidly for black politicians when a black candidate is available.

Obama is just the first black PRESIDENT (BTW - HALF-black, actually, and raised by his white mother).

This is nothing short of racist.
The last thing we need as a country is to have greater societal fragmentation. What next? Whites to buy only fron white businesses? Asians to buy only from Asian-owned businesses? etc. Maybe we should just revert to segregation. Remember when blacks had their own water fountains? This couple seems to prefer it that way.

tony wrote:

I plan to join the Anderson's buy Black campaign. I commit to spending as much with Black-owned businesses as I possibly can, starting now. Thanks Tribune for publishing this article, my faith is somewhat restored in your journalistic integrety. I plan to shop at the grocery store they cited in the story this week and will check out their web site about those gas cards and every other Black-owned business they patronize. I don't care what anybody else thinks, this is the best thing Black people can do to achieve economic equality.

Might be a little better if they actually lived in the communities and actively participated in the lives of the people that live ther.

Far be it for me to criticize their efforts, but it could seem to be a shallow, self-serving effort to sooth their consciouses.

Oak Park nuts wrote:

<quoted text>
Ever hear of Harold Washington who was elected mayor of Chicago in 1983? How about all the black aldermen in Chicago for years?(Chicago's Second Ward has been represented by a black alderman since 1915.) How about blacks in the Illinois House and Senate for many years?
As of 2001, whites were the dominant population in 23 Chicago wards, African Americans in 20 wards, and Hispanics in seven wards. A member of the ward's dominant racial or ethnic group represented all but one of these districts in the Chicago council as an alderman.
Do you have a clue how many mayors of large cities have been and are currently are black? Maynard Jackson Jr. was elected Atlanta's first black mayor in 1973.
How about black governors, past and present?
Blacks vote solidly for black politicians when a black candidate is available.
Obama is just the first black PRESIDENT (BTW - HALF-black, actually, and raised by his white mother).

White candidate for President DUH!!!