This video is one of the funniest videos I have seen in the current political environment. This is a great meme that represents our culture today. It shows the boundary between being woke and being racist is a very thin line. You can advocate for schools in poorer metropolitan areas to be funded better, you could encourage companies like Nike to create more scholarships for black students to give more chances in this country. However, if you start generalizing people based on their races and not shopping at their store because they are a certain race then that is very much like racism.

For example, I understand that we should support Black Owned Bussiness however I do think there does need to be a line drawn in the sand of how we go about that. I would say personally I will just by the best product from a company I do not care where it’s from, Martians Salt and Vinger Chips are the best, New Balance Shoes I have been wearing forever, however, if I am looking at for example laundry detergent (something I do not buy religiously) and I know one of the laundry detergents is a black-owned company maybe I would buy from them because I like to see a more economically diverse industry but it’s also good to give back to American Descendants of Slaves (ADOS) for the struggles they have endured. This should apply to all people in America, they are more than willing to support black business, and perhaps that is something they can run TV ads on.

However, I saw something not too long ago that I thought was mildly concerning. So according to allure (1) “Target is rolling out an online feature to make it easier for customers to identify and shop from Black-owned brands. Target’s new feature is a small beige badge showcasing several neutral-colored hearts, which the company is using to label all Black-owned and Black-founded brands on its website.” So while I don’t fully disagree with this move I think it is a good way to support things the same way you would support “Grass-Fed Beef” or “Cruelty-Free” or “Local Bussines”. I should point out some problems with this. I don’t think it would go very well if we took this one step further and started putting badges indicating what products are made by white-owned companies. Target’s policy could deter certain people from buying their products, and not just because they are racist but because they do not like where it is going. Like for example, we have seen this before in history with the Yellow Badges that were used leading up to and during the Holocaust. I am not saying it will get this bad and I certainly see it as a great way to promote those businesses, but we should really be careful of how we go about separating things, hence segregation, I could honestly see this turn into Target saying “Why don’t we just have one aisle where we have black-owned products showcased.” That seems like a good idea on its face but that to me seems like the beginning of an era of segregation all over again.

As I am very critical of the target decision I think it is a great way to support black-owned businesses however we need to be cautious of where these policies lead. I think we should strive to make America an egalitarian society. The most effective way to deal with racism and bigotry in America is to let them shoot themselves in the foot. Racists and bigots will only hurt themselves by turning away customers, turning away potential friends, and not hiring employees all because of the color of their skin color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or any other aspect that sets them apart from themselves. The same goes for products sold by people of a different walk of life than the racists and the bigots, if they refuse to buy these products they are so overcome by their own blindfold they will hurt their chances of success. Who would want to buy a washboard when they could buy a washing machine.

 

Citations:

 

1. Dall’Asen, Nicola. “Target’s New Online Feature Makes It Easier to Shop Black-Owned Beauty Brands.” Allure, Allure, 15 July 2020, www.allure.com/story/target-black-owned-brands-badge.