Hey, You Forgot the Spicks, Wops, and Polacks!
Wal-Mart recruits former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young to chair its company-funded Working Families for Wal-Mart. From CNN.com:
In an August interview with an African American newspaper in Los Angeles, Young says the megaretailer "should" displace its urban corner-store competition."You see, those are the people who have been overcharging us.... I think they've ripped off our communities enough. First it was Jews, then it was Koreans, and now it's Arabs."
Thanks, Deirdre
Good point, Andy! And what will Wal-mart sell to its displaced customers when they are all unemployed?
Dave at January 25, 2007 4:51 AM
Well, isn't the answer obvious, Dave? Wal*Mart will simply hire the displaced customers so they can buy Wal*Mart's wares, which is all they will be able to buy, with Wal*Mart's wages, and my bet is they still won't have health insurance.
Brenda at January 25, 2007 6:15 AM
Um...this guy was an ambassador?
On the plus side, this person of Paddy origins now gets why the rest of the world hates Americans.
That Julia at January 25, 2007 6:17 AM
Sorry...this heeb just realizes she left out all you micks.
Amy Alkon at January 25, 2007 7:45 AM
Anyone who has lived by and shopped at those corner marts (I did, for 8 years in DC) can tell you why they charge a lot - statistically, it's one of the most dangerous jobs you can have, right behind 'inner city taxi driver,' I think. Both theft and robbery are endemic at those stores. Insurance must be unbelievable.
As many people have pointed out, these 'outsiders,' whether Korean, Jewish, or Eskimo, are putting up businesses and taking risks that the local residents are not, and without them, there are precious few stores period.
Cat brother at January 25, 2007 8:25 AM
As many people have pointed out, these 'outsiders,' whether Korean, Jewish, or Eskimo, are putting up businesses and taking risks that the local residents are not, and without them, there are precious few stores period.
Exactly what I was going to say.
deja pseu at January 25, 2007 9:01 AM
I, for one, admire the hell out of the Koreans who opened 24-hour grocery stores in NYC. They're immigrants who work day and night, and have associations to help the next group of Koreans on their way in.
Amy Alkon at January 25, 2007 4:14 PM
A while back 'The Straight Dope's Cecil Adams responded to a question, larded with conspiracy overtones, on how Koreans managed to open stores in rotten neighborhoods when the locals couldn't or wouldn't. He responded that they had a system where several of them paid into a general fund each month, and they each got to use it in turn.
He ended his reply with a rather tart suggestion that now that this reader knew this particular, rather basic secret, that now he could go out and start a thriving business himself.
So far, that doesn't seem to have caught on big time in the inner city. But I know for sure, the VERY long hours and the danger of those jobs is no joke.
This is another example of a culture having some very positive habits ingrained, and making them work wherever they find themselves.
I remember in DC, there was a supermarket around the corner from me, on G Street (where Northeast officially turned bad). It was run by two Koreans, who eventually closed up shop because, they said, there was too much anti-Korean resentment and crime. True? I don't know. I DO know, nobody re-opened that supermarket while I lived on F, and there were many complaints from the black community there that there was no good place to shop.
Doctor, heal thyself.
Cat brother at January 25, 2007 4:43 PM
"You see, those are the people who have been overcharging us.... I think they've ripped off our communities enough. First it was Jews, then it was Koreans, and now it's Arabs."
So he's got at least three different outside groups who can manage to run a business there. Did he mention why the locals can't? Maybe he'll be happier with the new stores that ship all the money off to China instead of keeping it in the area, where it might make the locals feel bad.
Ken McE at January 25, 2007 7:29 PM
Two words: Entitlement Mentality.
You see it on both ends of the socio-economic spectrum too. The expectation that someone else will take it upon themselves to service one's needs.
End that annoying little mental tic, and a lot of problems solve themselves.
brian at January 26, 2007 5:17 AM
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