I remember that story about Trader Joe’s in Portland. It’s hard to believe, that the black “leaders”, preferred to have a vacant lot adding to the blight in a distressed area, rather than an actual chain grocery store.
I don’t get the “displacement” concept. Are they saying black folks won’t shop at a Trader Joe’s? I’ve seen many black shoppers at the Trader Joe’s I go to.
Whatever the case, how do you reason with someone, who prefers a slum atmosphere, to actual legitimate economic development?
Then the same people will bemoan the lack of real grocery stores selling fresh fruits and vegetables in blighted areas, instead of the plethora of liquor and convenience stores. You can’t have it both ways!
Same happened in Los Angeles after the Rodney King riots - the big supermarkets that had all been looted and burned chose not to return or rebuild.
The local pols - of all colors and sizes - declared those grocery chains that didn’t want to be burned and looted repeatedly as racist, bigoted and xenophobic- and called those burned out areas “food deserts.”
For years I passed a burned-out KFC that sat on an empty weedy lot.