Aurora – Eight months after contentious racial comments by an Aurora Mall leasing agent were made public, mall officials have made good on a promise to hire a black mall manager.
James Grant, 54, of Aurora started his first day of work Monday as an assistant mall manager. He was formerly a store director and manager at an Albertsons grocery in Aurora. He was not available Monday for comment.
Hiring an African-American manager was a pledge the mall’s parent owner, Simon Property Group, made to local black leaders after the company became embroiled in a race-based controversy.
“We just want to reduce the negative, um, aspects of the center – one of them is the young, black customer,” Valerie Hutcheson of California is recorded as saying.
Her statements set off threats of protests by the black community and calls for Aurora to rescind $15 million in tax breaks. It became a matter for the city’s Key Community Response Team and Human Relations Commission….more
I commented on this story some time ago on this site. If you do a search, you should find it.
As a former resident of the Denver area, I can tell you that this whole thing was a farce ON BOTH SIDES!
For starters, the Aurora mall is a crap mall that very few people go to because of its poor condition. It is usually a spot where gang activity is visible. When you walk through the mall, it feels very empty. No doubt, it is in the mostly black/Hispanic section of town.
What Hutcheson said at that meeting was definitely uncalled for and she should of been disciplined for her actions. On the other hand, the Denver Post fails to point out that most of the crime that takes place in that part of town is committed by US. If we are creating most of the disturbances in that area, how do you not target blacks? Many black business owners are faced with this same issue. If there is random targeting going on, then of course that is dead wrong.
Many blacks go to Park Meadows mall which is minutes away from this mall. Needless to say it much newer and has much better stores–and it is located in the mostly white Highlands Ranch area.
(Side note: There is a very nice mall in the Atlanta area [The Gallery At South Dekalb] which is located in the predominately black area of South Dekalb county. This mall is still fairly new and as far as I know is doing well. So no, I do not believe that all malls in mostly black areas are crap [for the racially sensitive]).
Now one could raise the point that maybe this company simply allowed the mall to “go down” due to the fact that it is in a predominately black/Hispanic neighborhood. A very valid point indeed; however, it is not the mall’s responsibility to control “out of control” kids that we won’t take care of. I do not recall hearing of any protest against the gang activity around the mall and in that area in general.
This all leads to my final point. Where do we get the notion that by placing a black face in the midst of this debate that everything will be made ok? If the mall management is in fact racist, then why are we placing a black face in the midst of that craziness? If the staff of this mall is racist, then has anyone thought of what a typical work day will be like for this gentleman? Either they are going to be too scared to say anything to him or just continue their racist ways.
This guy is nothing more than a black prop for a gang of few. And you know how we can be, the very people that got him in that position in the first place is not going to ever let him forget what they did for him.
When the typical person goes to a mall, the race of the management is not on the forefront of the shopper’s mind. Prices and quality are the main concerns of any shopper. Hair products are sometimes sold in shops where in some cases the Asian owners despise blacks–we know this and still give them our money.
Although I am glad that Grant got himself a job, I for one do not envy his position.
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