How is this in any way unusual? You’ll find that all over the world. In the absence of coercion, most people will choose to associate with people like themselves, and this is true not only of race but of ethnicity, religion, social class, educational level, and other factors as well. This is just human nature.
In this case, it is young people associating with each other. As a middle-aged person, I can’t see any reason why I would enjoy participating in in hanging about with large numbers of them in a mall or on a street waiting for something exciting to happen.
Meh.
The same thing happens in Ireland when a traveller wedding happens.
Wouldn’t this be a golden opportunity for the black-owned, or at least non-racists, businesses to open shop and rake in the money? Reading the link it looks to me like that is what some businesses are doing.
Yeah, there may be racism here although the linked article seems to be working pretty hard to find it (or imply it) with very little success.
I didn’t say it was unusual. I just wish it didn’t happen.
I think there’s a pretty obvious element of racism, but there’s enough smug deniability as to prevent any legal remedy. Boycotts would probably be the only course of action.
I trust that this is not typical: http://www.avalon5.com/weird-and-whacky/weird/would-you-raise-your-machetes-please-in-a-toast-to-the-bride-and-groom/
Whether or not it’s racist, if they’re all private businesses then they can make whatever decision suits them. The Texas Relays can always choose to move the event to another city that will welcome their business. Hopefully that would still be someplace in Texas.
Austin, Texas is probably the most diverse and liberal city in Texas and in this entire region of the United States.
Fairly typical.
It’s racist, but it’s far cheaper for hotel/restaurant owners to deny them entry and get sued, rather then have to rebuild the place afterwards.
It’s more particular families though.
They also have bare-knuckle boxing, which they now tape and sell.
One of the businesses that closed is a reggae bar. Also, one of the local concert venues, Stubbs, tried to capitalize on the event a few years ago. They hosted a hip hop triple feature and had only 50 attendees for the 2,100 capacity venue.
It’s not just the articles that are trying to find racism; the NAACP sees it as racist also.
Is what I see in the videos typical of African Americans? I very much doubt it. A more honest appraisal would be to state that the shop owners are biased against a very large mob of youth hanging about looking for excitement, which has included violence.
It’s not racist if it’s both true and relevant, and an increased threat of violence is certainly relevant to a business.
It seems to me that depends on how you define “racist.” I would guess that most “racists” are practicing so-called "rational discrimination."
For what it’s worth, I was on campus Friday night, while the Relays were going on. It just so happens that Jerry Seinfeld was doing a show on campus, at the Bass concert hall, a few hundred yards from the stadium where the track meet was taking place.
I have no first-hand knowledge of what’s gone on at Highland Mall in the past, but the crowd at the Relays was no more rowdy or dangerous-looking than the crowd for Seinfeld. Both groups looked to me like ordinary, polite, middle-class people out for a good time. My group was a bit older and paler, of course.
Still, I was right there WITH the Relays’ fans, and I saw absolutely nothing to be nervous about.
Postscript: I hardly ever shop at Highland Mall any more. I went there regularly when I first moved to Austin, in 1986, but today, it’s almost never the most convenient place for me to shop.
But I can offer you a bit of history: when I moved here, it was considered a nice, upscale, state-of-the-art mall. Over time, however, bigger malls in more affluent areas have taken away much of their business. As a result, they started getting a reputation as the “black” mall (as opposed to the much “whiter” Barton Creek and Lakeline Malls).
Was this an accurate tag? I don’t know. But that reputation spread, and it’s definitely hurt their business. The entire area has become seedier; upscale businesses and restaurants in the neighborhood have largely disappeared and been replaced by more low-rent businesses.
This has definitely bothered store owners and managers at Highland Mall, who have resorted to various (sometimes silly) tactics to dissuade young black shoppers from coming there. They’ve actually been charged with (no joke!) playing Barry Manilow and Barbra Streisand-type music over the speakers, hoping black kids would hate the songs and leave!
So, Highland Mall has had racial issues for some tiem now.
For what it’s worth, the few times I’ve been there in the past 5 years, I never felt threatened. There DID seem to be far more black shoppers than at other malls, but it never seemed like a dangerous place.
Despite what people might think, malls are not intended to be social gathering spots. They are intended to be retail shopping centers. Granted, they are often used as meeting spots, but malls/shopping centers have an expectation that socializers will also buy something.
If the stores/malls/other places have experienced low sales, or loss of inventory, or fights and disturbances in past years during this event, then closing early is not racist, it’s a business decision. If I had a business in that mall, I would certainly try to publicize it as giving my employees time off to watch the events, as someone said upthread.
If sales were UP during this event, then I would imagine that the mall would be open, and have incentives for people to come in.
I would also urge the NAACP and anyone else who thinks this decision is racist to provide gathering spots where people could hang out, free of charge. Sure, they might have to spend some money to rent space, but that’s what they expect the mall to do, right?
I used to go shopping at various malls. I quit doing so when the malls were so crowded with youths that I found it impossible to navigate. They weren’t shoppers, as they almost never carried bags. I also got tired of being hit up for spare change.
In some malls, unaccompanied minors are not allowed during certain hours. Some people detest that policy, but I find it reasonable, and would patronize a mall that had such, if it was convenient to me and had stores I like.