The BlackPages: WTF?

[CaptainKahuna]

The BlackPages

I saw this on a newspaper stand today and it really shocked me. It's a business directory of businesses owned and operated by black people, presumably so black people can give their business and money to those merchants.

Now does this sound like "reverse discrimination" to anyone else?

What if the "Whitepages" intentionally left out all businesses not owned and operated by whites? Can you imaging the lynch mob that descend on BellSouth's offices?

I'm just tired of black people having a hair trigger for discrimination claims, while things like "The BlackPages" go unnoticed. :shocked:

EDIT for clarification: I don't see anything wrong with the BlackPages themselves, my issue is with the fact that if there were a "WhitePages" black people would go FREAKIN NUTS, but white people really don't mind the fact that "BlackPages" exists.

 

It's not as if the local (publicly owned) utility company is putting this publication out...it's likely published by a private citizens' group. Simply informing people where certain businesses are is not illegal, nor is it discriminatory.

 

[Confused]

Does that mean the Yellow Pages only has businesses run by Asian people?


:roll:

 

[CaptainKahuna]

Originally posted by: jumpr
Simply informing people where certain businesses are is not illegal, nor is it discriminatory.

I agree with you. I don't see anything wrong with the BlackPages themselves, my issue is with the fact that if there were a "WhitePages" black people would go FREAKIN NUTS.

 

[hevnsnt]

that is utter bullsh!t. I am so sick of reverse discrimination.. To me it seems the only ones still obsessed with race are the blacks. I think they are the ones keeping race problems alive.

 

[Ikonomi]

Originally posted by: hevnsnt
that is utter bullsh!t. I am so sick of reverse discrimination.. To me it seems the only ones still obsessed with race are the blacks. I think they are the ones keeping race problems alive.

I am personally stoking the fires of discrimination. :thumbsup:

 

[CaptainKahuna]

Originally posted by: hevnsnt
that is utter bullsh!t. I am so sick of reverse discrimination.. To me it seems the only ones still obsessed with race are the blacks. I think they are the ones keeping race problems alive.

Couldn't agree more!

 

[Dracos]

You do know that the Black Pages have been around for quite a while now.

 

[Megatomic]

I would be willing to bet that in certain regions of the US, if a white version of this Black Pages was released it would be met with accusations of being tied to white supremacist groups like KKK and the aryans and skinheads and such.

 

Originally posted by: Megatomic
I would be willing to bet that in certain regions of the US, if a white version of this Black Pages was released it would be met with accusations of being tied to white supremacist groups like KKK and the aryans and skinheads and such.

Actually, one could assume the opposite to be true - that the black pages are published by a white-supremacy group, so that its members know not only where not to shop, but where to target. :Q

 

[Gunslinger08]

Minorities are allowed to stick to themselves. Whites are not. That's the way PC America is now.

 

[DWW]

It isn't reverse racism it is just plain racism.

Wrong is wrong.

 

[GRIFFIN1]

I'm a civil engineering. All the city jobs we get require that we have a minority owned business doing part of the work for us. The sad thing is that the ones I have seen don't really do anything other than get a percentage of the money from the city.

I wish I was black, I would be rich right now.

 

[oniq]

I'm gonna make the CaucPages

 

[Gurck]

It's bs of course, but it's reality. Get used to it and the idea that it'll get a lot worse in the near future.

 

[Gravity]

No, it's not discriminatory. It's advertising. You can advertise anywhere you want to attract customers. Some ethnicities choose to be selective to cooperatively advance their race. Cubans in Miami used to do it all the time.

Seems to work if the particular ethnicity has the collective will and buying power to support their own enterprises.

The market will either support them artificially through these means or they will close. Think of it this way:

Are you willing to buy product X for %15 more just to support that particular ethnic vendor? If so, then the guy has won you over.

That guy, however, will only be a market force if he can convince you and many others like you that paying 15% more is worth it, since he will be the one profiting from your patronage.

If he was smart, he would offer a better product at a better price in addition to soliciting ethnic patronage. Otherwise, peeps will begin to tire of paying the 15% premium for the product and return to wal-mart for it's daily bread (product x)

 

[Scarpozzi]

My local electric company actually hired a black guy to direct business toward black contracting companies. When they have to get a contractor, he makes sure they represent white and black owned companies.

It's been 40 years since the Civil Rights movement and the blacks haven't gotten all that far yet. Most of their progress has been in the last 10-15 years. Give it another 40 years and things will even out some more.

-Scar

 

[welst10]

Originally posted by: oniq
I'm gonna make the CaucPages

Why? there is already whitepages.

 

[Deadtrees]

1. I am, too , sick of this "OMG~ OMFG~ This is a reverse discrimination~" crap.
2. I agree with jumpr.
3. There's no need for 'whites' pages as there're 100000000x businesses run by whites.
It's not like one needs the 'whites' pages unless he's in blacks or Asians town.
4. If you travel where the whites are minorities, you'll see that there're whites pages simply because they're minorities there.
5. If you look around, you'll see there're Koreans, Japanese, Jews, and Chinese directories as well. Instead of complaining about it, why don't you come up with Whites pages by yourself?

 

[TwiceOver]

yeh, same issues if there was a "White Entertainment Television" we would never get away with that. But then again with the acronym W.E.T. it would probably end up being a porn channel, which is fun for all.

 

[kmac1914]

I think the thing that the OP is failing to see is that the difference between the blackpages and how it would be if there was a whitepages is that people would freak because more than likely, the businesses listed in the whitepages would not allow other ethnicites to shop there--not unlike how it was 60 or so years ago. The black pages, on the other hand list black owned business so other blacks can support them, but it's not as if only blacks are allowed to shop there.

 

[Titan]

does anyone else find it funny that the issue of "race" in this country is really about "appearance?" When I think of race, i think of ancestral heritage, not the color of my skin. It's sad that discrimination has occured to the blacks based on appearances, not because they have African heritage. The Irish, for example were discriminated for their heritage. The blacks are just discriminated against because of the color or their skin.

What baffles me is that they rally around the same trivial features which some other people who share the same features who have been denied civil rights historically. The color of your skin does not make you a victim because other people of the same appearance were victimized. Your race makes you a victim if your immediate or extended family has been victimized because of heritage, like the jews after the holocaust. I will never understand what having dark skin has to do with anything regarding race.

 

[ggavinmoss]

You're telling me that other racial and immigrant groups don't throw more business the way of "their brothers?" Get over it; it's targeted at somebody who is inclined to think that s/he should only give business to those of their race or immigrant group and I'm sure that portion of the population is small.

-geoff

 

[Kenazo]

There is also a christian business directory, IIRC.