Post ASbvVaud0wI0Q55Nui by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
(DIR) More posts by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
(DIR) Post #ASbvGeIg8TiiaED0CW by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T17:32:48Z
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Happy #BlackHistoryMonth !Still working through white US history.Q: Why are so many Black folk early adopters of tech like Uber and Amazon? Sometimes this willingness to try new tech early backfires on y'all, like the whole crypto scam. Tech companies don't always love you back. So... why so eager? Is it because of Deltron 3030 and André 3000? 🤔You're... you're going to say racism aren't you?A: Yep! Racism. And go ahead and add Sears to that list of "technology" companies.#BlackMastodon
(DIR) Post #ASbvGh7RehW7KFyZbk by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T17:33:27Z
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Because racism is baked into so much of US society, institutions that work well for white folk don't work as well for Black folk. We often end up paying way higher fees for way worse service.Because of this, new tech doesn't have to be better than existing tech's average case to be attractive to Black folk. It just has to be better than existing tech's bottom 5% of cases! Because that's what existing tech gives us. 🤡
(DIR) Post #ASbvGjtjK9KRwaaA9A by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T17:35:22Z
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And a big factor: the daily trauma of experiencing racism takes its toll. Black folk in the US aren't rich, but have always been willing to pay a premium just to avoid a little racism. This part of the Black tax is real money.Let's start with the Sears, a Chicago company. In the South, stores in places like Alabama and Mississippi used to be off-limits for Black customers. And when Black customers were finally allowed in, they often had to wait until white customers have finished shopping.
(DIR) Post #ASbvGmWRZBU65Ei6lc by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T17:36:56Z
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If there was only one of an item left, store staff would take it from a Black customer and give it to a white one. Black customers were sometimes charged more for the same item. Shopping under Jim Crow sucked.And Black clerks did this to Black customers too. This wasn't just "I as a clerk am racist against you individually." This was individual employees operating in a racist system of shopping.
(DIR) Post #ASbvGpE7VlbsTHA17g by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T17:38:56Z
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Then along comes Sears Roebuck Company from Chicago, with their mail order catalog! ♥️👍🏿Yes, mail order is inconvenient. You can't see the items before they arrive. You have to pay postage, and shipping. There was no "UPS overnight" back then.But the US postal service doesn't ship Jim Crow. Pay a little Black tax, avoid the daily indignities of shopping under Jim Crow.Sears was better for Black customers in the south, and 20% of the south is Black. Good for business! 🤑
(DIR) Post #ASbvGs4evOpBInl0IC by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T17:39:36Z
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Black customers helped Sears grow, and helped mail order shopping become a big thing. It also destroyed the margins of the most racist stores in the South, by providing a viable alternative. It helped drive them out of business.Some execs at Sears wanted to lean into their Black customer base, because they realized that half of their white customers had no problem with it, and that "All Black folk + half a white folk" is a much bigger market than "No Black folk + the other half of white folk."
(DIR) Post #ASbvGuj93qOjWwiMfw by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T17:41:18Z
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But racism is just too delicious, and "the other half of white folk" were over-represented in Sears executive leadership. 🤷🏿♂️Let's talk about rideshare and Uber, and why I was the biggest Uber fan on planet Earth in the company's early days. Seriously. Uber folks may have been super pumped, but I was super duper pumpty dumped!I had to travel to NYC for work, and took a cab from my hotel to midtown Manhattan. After work, I tried to take a cab back to my hotel, which was also in Manhattan.
(DIR) Post #ASbvGxMvEvP7itL9xA by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T17:42:22Z
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I stood for almost 30 minutes, as every cab passed me and went to a white person.😮I eventually paid a homeless white skater kid five bucks to hail a cab for me.NYC cabs don't pick up Black riders at the end of the day. Because they know that most Black folk live in Brooklyn. A rider with a $5 fare might leave a $5 tip, but a rider with a $50 fare is unlikely to leave a $50 tip. So during rush hour, cabbies make more money doing lots of short Manhattan trips, than one long trip to Brooklyn.
(DIR) Post #ASbvH0DSeYcQYPw97g by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T17:43:36Z
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Black cabbies avoid Black folk during rush hour too. Yes, there are straight up racist cabbies. But a lot of it is just this. People have known about this phenomenon since the 50s, and no one did anything significant about it. Because people are okay with the fact that yellow cabs just don't work as well for Black people in NYC. 🤷🏿♂️I started using Uber, and my racist transportation problems disappeared entirely. Uber could have been double the price of yellow cabs and I would have still used it.
(DIR) Post #ASbvH2v8b8kCwSO3Tk by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T17:45:13Z
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Again, statistically, it is guaranteed that I have taken a ride from an individually racist Uber driver! Doesn't matter. If they had a confederate flag, they kept it in the glove box. Rush Limbaugh was not on their radio when I got in.Uber was better for Black passengers, and 25% of NYC is Black. 🤑
(DIR) Post #ASbvSb7dmGBECZk9NA by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T17:46:00Z
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Instead of competing on improving service for Black riders, yellow cab folk tried to limit Uber. Instead of competing on improving service for Black in-person customers, Jim Crow era stores tried to limit mail order catalogs.(At this point, someone is fighting the urge to derail this thread into how they don't like Uber, or classification of drivers as employees, or VC funded loss leaders, or medallion prices. I wish them strength!)
(DIR) Post #ASbvSdtDULQOmi1Ao4 by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T17:47:01Z
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Let's talk about Best Buy vs Amazon, shoplifting, and loss prevention. The goal of loss prevention should not be to stop folk from stealing from the store. It should be to reduce risk to the business. Theft is one risk. Losing customers is another risk.We're too deep into Black history month for me to explain that most of the people accused of and arrested for shoplifting are Black, but most of the people that shoplift are white. If that's still controversial, go back to Feb 1 and start over.
(DIR) Post #ASbvVaud0wI0Q55Nui by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T17:49:01Z
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I will say that you should ask Black US dudes if they've ever been followed around by clerks in a store while white women shoplift, completely unbothered.🤡 🙋🏿♂️I will also say that you should ask loss prevention experts if they know that cosmetics and razors are two of the most commonly shoplifted items. They'll say yes. Then ask them what color the razors that are most frequently stolen are. Then ask any man the exact brand and shade of his partner's foundation or eyeliner. They don't know. 🤷🏿♂️
(DIR) Post #ASbvWkEbq7SXcbyqPo by Andrewhinton@mastodon.social
2023-02-12T17:43:50Z
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@mekkaokereke man I am learning so much from your posts <3
(DIR) Post #ASbyIxbpcH7auVxeS0 by zleap@qoto.org
2023-02-12T18:21:36Z
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@mekkaokereke I wonder what would happen if a few black drivers got together and formed their own taxi company, to run people between Manhatten and Brooklyn. Oh and ignored white people hailing cabs and just picked up black passengers.
(DIR) Post #ASbz54Zr0ozCQCyh0q by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T17:51:42Z
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I will explain that as a Black dude, going into an electronics store, paying over $1,000 for something, being accused of shoplifting it, and presenting my receipt while a cop stands next to me with his hand on his gun, is not good customer service.I'll also explain that being followed around a store is not fun or cute. Being denied returns more than other customers, also not cute.We know who shoplifts. It's not based on race or income. Go check on Winona Ryder.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4104590/
(DIR) Post #ASbz55G2TyjKX2iNlY by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T17:54:22Z
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I'd rather go into the store, look at TVs and laptops, leave the store without buying anything, and then order it online. Saving $50 because the online retailer has it for cheaper, is an extra bonus.I'd rather buy from a place that has a consistent, less racially biased return policy.People urging customers to "buy local!" don't bother to say how they're making this local shopping experience better for Black customers.Amazon and their companies like Zappos, have great return policies. 🤑
(DIR) Post #ASbz55t28zvETyxWXw by zleap@qoto.org
2023-02-12T18:30:17Z
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@mekkaokereke One the one hand the USA is an advanced country, Richest in the world, reading things like this and, about guns, what the republicans are doing with books etc, Makes me wonder sometimes if the USA is just putting on a good act, Granted the USA is sending people to the moon in 2025, other than that the above just makes it look so backwards it is unbelievable for those of us out side the USA, who don't experience this.
(DIR) Post #ASbz58RUdqfuPR64XI by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T17:55:06Z
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Consider the experience of a Black shopper as you read this:https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-opinion-discrimination-racial-shopping-while-black-20220214-xuja2qx4dbgxheyot3ytgciacq-story.html(Right now, someone is resisting the urge to say that they don't like Amazon, or talk about labor rights, and derail this thread away from the experience of Black shoppers in the US. Pray for them!).
(DIR) Post #ASbz5BE8Hylp2rrwcy by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T17:55:27Z
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I've said all I ever need to say about crypto. If at this point you still believe these crypto bros, after seeing everything I said come to pass, I can't help you. 🤷🏿♂️But the current banking and finance systems don't work for Black people. Ryan Coogler is a millionaire that can direct Black Panther, but can't deposit his check without having the cops called on him. Black cops pulled guns on him and handcuffed him, and a Black bank teller called the cops on him.https://youtu.be/0YDewGNL_F8
(DIR) Post #ASbz5E6nZhgbyzSd72 by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T17:56:56Z
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It's not just Coogler. It's widespread.https://youtu.be/tyJRTJUVCrAI've never been arrested at a bank, but I have been disbelieved, and denied access to my own money.If you understand white US history, you'll understand why US Black folk were uniquely vulnerable to the seductive dream of something other than the traditional banking system."If I pay you in crypto, you can move your money without going into a bank!" hits differently for us. We know crypto is a scam, but we want to believe.
(DIR) Post #ASbz5GqFPhEISWjxEO by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T18:00:22Z
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Want to reduce crypto scams? Make US government insured finance work as well for Black folk as white folk.Want more drivers to have salaries and benefits? Make cabs and public transportation work as well for Black folk as white folk.Want more small, local retail? Make small, local retail work as well for Black folk as white folk.If you understand white US history, you'll understand why reducing racism helps bring about the healthier economic balance we all seek, and ignoring it, hurts it.
(DIR) Post #ASbz5Ja3EN3YxABYu0 by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T18:02:15Z
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Shout out in advance to everyone that will read this thread as me stanning megacorps, instead of me criticizing racism and understanding Black consumer choices and expectations of being treated fairly.
(DIR) Post #ASc51ZrXLtQ019xv28 by CatDragon@mastodon.world
2023-02-12T19:36:56Z
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@mekkaokereke let’s talk about how Sears made more money off credit card interest than sales.
(DIR) Post #AScCtGfdcfCFoNwrw0 by monkeyninja@mastodon.cloud
2023-02-12T20:21:00Z
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@mekkaokereke I have a black friend who years ago asked me to come with him to Best Buy when he was headed in to buy a TV because he was harassed the last time he was there. This was in the days before Amazon so there weren’t many other options. He gave me the money to pay for the items he wanted and I made the purchase. I’d never experienced anything so demeaning in my life and I was only experiencing it by proxy.
(DIR) Post #AScDRSZvr6IcabaFN2 by ChristiJunior@detroitriotcity.com
2023-02-12T21:11:14.765918Z
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@mekkaokereke Racism being to blame for every single failure of niggers, that sure isn't overly convenient or anything :smug_loli2:
(DIR) Post #AScDWoFsgpWrGYkvD6 by ChristiJunior@detroitriotcity.com
2023-02-12T21:12:13.653886Z
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@mekkaokereke White people literally face institutional discrimination because of their race, blacks literally enjoy tons of race-based preferential treatment.
(DIR) Post #AScDZqUapP0H4d5KF6 by ChristiJunior@detroitriotcity.com
2023-02-12T21:12:46.609317Z
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@mekkaokereke >the daily trauma of experiencing racism takes its tollBOOHOO NIGGA!
(DIR) Post #AScDhPtzZezYvDZjRg by ChristiJunior@detroitriotcity.com
2023-02-12T21:14:08.629232Z
2 likes, 0 repeats
@zleap @mekkaokereke Yeah, the USA is so backwards that it engages in nigger worship and exports faggotry all around the world, it truly is the Great Satan.
(DIR) Post #AScE7Awhnt4W467wtU by mongoose@vmst.io
2023-02-12T18:47:23Z
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@mekkaokereke Thank you for another tremendously informative thread. I should say that I live in the UK, where we also have racism, but it's not as blatant as it is in the USA because we don't have a history of slavery in our country. (Selling enslaved people to other countries, absolutely, alas. But we didn't have them here, so things played out rather differently.) If you know anything about racism in the UK and how to deal with it I'm all ears.
(DIR) Post #AScE7BSFuaJDdwt94S by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
2023-02-12T19:01:52Z
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@mongoose I went to school in the UK when I was young. Racism in the modern UK is very different, and not near the scale of systemic efficiency and brutality as in the US. As a result, Black people in the UK live ~23% longer than Black folk in the USA. Black folk in the UK live longer than white folk in the US 🤷🏿♂️.But I am very worried for the UK, as the US is exporting some of our most racist political consultants to advise your politicians, with predictably disastrous results for everyone.
(DIR) Post #AScE9fLrj6hYwj5DUW by zleap@qoto.org
2023-02-12T21:19:14Z
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@mekkaokereke @mongoose Not to mention the toxic influence of social media which is also damaging to people, esp younger minds.
(DIR) Post #AScEB6E9I0PYaZ9oJs by dj@rojogato.com
2023-02-12T21:19:28.797855Z
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@mekkaokereke
(DIR) Post #ASeNjw0oY4AewjWdzE by ChristiJunior@detroitriotcity.com
2023-02-13T22:16:04.279924Z
3 likes, 0 repeats
@mekkaokereke @mongoose >Racism in the modern UK is very different, and not near the scale of systemic efficiency and brutality as in the US.And yet the black crime rate is very similar to that of the US, it's almost like blacks are inherently dumber and more violent:https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1290047/Metropolitan-Police-crime-statistics-reveal-violent-criminals-black--victims.html>Police hold black men responsible for more than two-thirds of shootings and more than half of robberies and street crimes in London, according to figures released by Scotland Yard....>Just over 12 per cent of London's 7.5million population is black, including those of mixed black and white parentage, while 69 per cent is white, according to the Office for National Statistics.Hmm, that sure seems very similar to the US's infamous 13/50 (now 13-60) statistic, doesn't it?
(DIR) Post #AShJ5OvKKoQqOlFsye by Owl@nicecrew.digital
2023-02-15T08:08:02.253977Z
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understanding black consumer choicesLike buying frivolous luxury items with White taxpayer money, or using said money to fund expensive fashion choices or giddem rims fo day hoopty.