I am on my mobile for this post. So hopefully I can just get straight to the point.
I’ve heard of the experiment where
a Black family bought only Black products for an entire year. Maggie Anderson (I believe) is the wife of the husband/wife team I’m thinking of. I actually wrote about this some time ago.
Okay, to the point. I love seeing Black businesses getting support within the community (I own two businesses, so I welcome it). But the only thing I heard coming out of Anderson’s mouth this morning in her public radio program was complaint after complaint over how “White” businesses don’t have enough Black franchise owners.
So while she supposedly is striving for Black economic independence, her complaint still leads us back to Mister Charlie’s back porch.
As I said before, and I will say it again, buying Black alone is not a solution. A good business, regardless of the color of the owner is held accountable by their customers. People buy based on product availability, price, and customer service.
One of the biggest complaints about Black businesses BY OTHER BLACKS is the constant poor customer service. Anderson did not mention that once in her interview. If the customer service is bad, like all other customers, we will go elsewhere. Regardless if she covers that fact in her book or not, she deliberately used a national platform to lay all the blame exclusivlely on Whites.
Economic recovery as it pertains to Black entrepreneurship is a 2 way street: quality service from the business owner and the right expectations from the customer (in other words, don’t expect a hookup).
Hopefully, Anderson will see this post and respond.
Maggie Anderson’s Misguided Quest
by Duane on March 1st, 2012 at 8:02 amI am on my mobile for this post. So hopefully I can just get straight to the point.
I’ve heard of the experiment where
a Black family bought only Black products for an entire year. Maggie Anderson (I believe) is the wife of the husband/wife team I’m thinking of. I actually wrote about this some time ago.
Okay, to the point. I love seeing Black businesses getting support within the community (I own two businesses, so I welcome it). But the only thing I heard coming out of Anderson’s mouth this morning in her public radio program was complaint after complaint over how “White” businesses don’t have enough Black franchise owners.
So while she supposedly is striving for Black economic independence, her complaint still leads us back to Mister Charlie’s back porch.
As I said before, and I will say it again, buying Black alone is not a solution. A good business, regardless of the color of the owner is held accountable by their customers. People buy based on product availability, price, and customer service.
One of the biggest complaints about Black businesses BY OTHER BLACKS is the constant poor customer service. Anderson did not mention that once in her interview. If the customer service is bad, like all other customers, we will go elsewhere. Regardless if she covers that fact in her book or not, she deliberately used a national platform to lay all the blame exclusivlely on Whites.
Economic recovery as it pertains to Black entrepreneurship is a 2 way street: quality service from the business owner and the right expectations from the customer (in other words, don’t expect a hookup).
Hopefully, Anderson will see this post and respond.