Maggie & John Anderson's "Empowerment Experiment" to Patronize Black Only Businesses Gains Momentum, but Also Picks up Detractors

The decision by Maggie and John Anderson of Chicago to patronize black-owned businesses is gaining momentum. The "Empowerment Experiment," as it is known, has riled some whites, but this concept is nothing new. Take the Indians and Jews for example, they pretty much patronize establishments operated by their own ethnicity. I don't hear anyone complaining about that. I have some reservations about the whole concept, but I understand the feelings behind it, nonetheless. Our black-owned businesses, in many instances, just cannot compete with the bigger, well-financed white-owned businesses. The playing field is neither level Nor fair, in so many instances.

To be fair, I can fully appreciate the outpouring of negative sentiments from the white community. We certainly cannot move towards a post-racial America if we are going to segregate this level. It is said that black visionaries such as Marcus Mosiah Garvey (my fellow Jamaican) and Booker T. Washington called for similar movements. But, they lived in a different time, so I don't know if that mindset should still apply today.

"We kind of enjoy the sacrifice because we get to make the point ... but I am going without stuff and I am frustrated on a daily basis," Maggie Anderson said. "It's like, my people have been here 400 years and we don't even have a Walgreens to show for it."

So far, the Andersons have spent hundreds of dollars with black businesses from grocery stores to dry cleaners. But the couple still hasn't found a mortgage lender, home security system vendor or toy store. Nonetheless, they're hoping to expand the endeavor beyond their Chicago home.

The movement is gaining steam. Plans are reportedly under way to track spending among supporters nationwide and build a national database of quality black businesses. The first affiliate chapter has been launched in Atlanta, and the couple has established a foundation to raise funds for black businesses and an annual convention.

"We have the real power to do something, to use the money we spend every day to solve our problems," Maggie Anderson said recently at a meet-and-greet in Atlanta. "We have to believe that black businesses are just as good as everybody else's." Source: Breitbart

According to the National Black Chamber of Commerce, there are one million black businesses in the United States accounting for more than $100 billion in annual sales. The latest U.S. Census numbers report that blacks have more than $800 billion in expendable income each year. That's a pretty staggering figure. Entrepreneurship is vital and it is severly lacking in the African American community. We need more able-bodied black men and women to launch their own businesses. I know there it is very challenging in today's environment to raise the necessary funds, but where there's a will, there is most definitely a way to get it done.

Herein lies the problem I have with this whole issue. I don't have a problem patronizing a black-owned business, but I find the level of service to be substandard and the breadth of products and services limited, at least for the ones I have come in contact with. For example, as a West Indian, I have gone to Stone Mountain, Ga., to purchase Jamaican grocery items that I cannot find in my own neighborhood in North Fulton county. After driving close to an hour, the last thing I deserve to receive is horrible customer service and grossly overpriced products. On the flip side, my gynecology practice is owned by a black woman, but you would never know it. The atmosphere is great and the service is second to none. The team she has in place is diverse, courteous and professional.

So, there is a lot of room for improvement and, for me at least, before I get in my car to drive close to an hour from my home to patronize a black owned business, I have to see a vast improvement in customer service and the breadth of products and services offered. Black business owners should not take the black consumer for granted just because we are the same race. I am not looking at the racial background of the person with whom I am doing business. I am looking for the best deal for my money, good customer service and a clean, well-laid out establishment. I guess my parting question to you is, how would you feel about whites patronizing white-only establishments? I suspect Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would be picketing those establishments, right?