I’m a cop. If you don’t want to get hurt, don’t challenge me.

Inner cities already have a huge diabetes problem. More Dunkin Donuts
will increase the problem.

There is a natural slogan though in promoting the idea:

"Donuts to Dollars"

 

Why does it have to be Dunkin' Donuts for everyone?

Greeks in Boston (improbably?) opened pizzerias. Vietnamese on the Gulf coast became shrimpers. Indians in New York City opened newsstands. Koreans opened grocery stores/convenience stores, dry cleaners, and nail salons.

And, these businesses don't need to support the community forever. They are mostly first or second generation businesses. A couple of generations later and their kids are doctors, working on Wall St., or starting technology companies.

 

And those are all people who had capital to invest. But isn't the problem where the hell they're going to get that capital in the first place?

 

I'm sorry, but the idea that we are going to solve black poverty in America by telling them really loudly to open brick-and-mortar businesses, in 2014, is preposterous.

 

Selling cigarettes one at a time till you're choked out.

 

"Blacks are gifted at worship and celebration" / Reggie White

The problem is that it's hard to monetize that skill on a mass basis.

 

OK, for the sake of argument, though, let's assume that there are 50,214,000 street corners in America, just waiting for poor black people to open a Dunkin' Donuts or a Chipotle or a pizzeria or an oh-so-profitable newsstand, once they get off their lazy black duffs and pool the family money together.

What is your plan for both incentivizing them to do so, and for equipping them to do so?

Just telling them to do it on SportsJournalists.com?

 

Outing alert: YF is really a woman named Ligia:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-love-of-good-coffee-led-montgomery-county-woman-to-an-unusual-sideline/2014/08/25/9a24a3fe-2c69-11e4-9b98-848790384093_story.html

 

Not everyone is going to open a business.

But, if some open businesses, that means jobs for others. It means more economic activity in the neighborhood, and more money that stays in the neighborhood.

Koreans, Indians, and Pakistanis have often opened businesses in areas that are largely African-American. This is because they are undeserved, and the capital required is less than in a better area.

(And, in fact it's been a source of tension in places like Harlem, here immigrants have been accused of being "bloodsuckers".)

Look at the businesses that exist in Ferguson. Best I can tell, there's a McDonald's, a BBQ joint, a couple of convenience stores, and a liquor store.

And, the guy that Michael Brown roughed up wasn't African-American. And, to be honest, I'm not sure Big Mike would have shoplifted a box of rellos from an African-American owned store.

 

You think all of these people had lots of money to invest at the beginning?

They all used the same formula of people like Mr. Patel in Chicago. They pooled money, they opened low capital businesses, often in less than desirable locations. The businesses were operated/staffed largely by family members, who worked long hours, and took no salary at the beginning.

Once the business turned a profit, they took the money and invested in the next location/business.

 

You need to start following Nate Silver's 538. Ferguson does have a side of town
that would be considered upscale complete with coffee shop and micro brew pub.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/ferguson-missouri/

 

NFL can't be liking this -- at least for now, Maurice Jones-Drew's touchdown celebration is "hands up, don't shoot."

http://blog.sfgate.com/raiders/2014/08/25/hands-up-dont-shoot-touchdown-pose-important-to-jones-drew/

“I am raising three African American boys,” Jones-Drew told the Chronicle. “Whenever you see things like that … and it’s not just Ferguson, I was in Jacksonville when Trayvon Martin happened, I was in Jacksonville when the gas station shooting over the loud music happened. Those things touch home.”

Since he plays for the Raiders, though, it probably won't come up during the regular season.