EatOkra

You cannot fix racism with more racism.

Oh boy here we go again. When covid became a global pandemic people started building bunch of apps related to covid. Now with this protest people starting to build apps that are pointing to persons color and blah blah only to get more attention and hype. Anyway good luck

I've been using Eat Okra to peruse and support Black-owned restaurants. Handy since we moved not too long ago and wanted to have this information at our fingertips.

Let's give this a try tonight, @suzywillow.

@realaugustrush and @gruffi67 in order to better understand the point that Trevin is trying to make, "you" must first understand the meaning of "Racism". Racism is a system where the power of authority is dominated and controlled by a single race of people, who then uses that power to oppress those of another race in all aspects of everyday life. Those who subscribe to that way of thinking are therefore considered "racists". Since blacks have never had such authority and power in the US, a black person cannot be considered a "Racist" (reverse racism is simply a myth). We all discriminate against one another is some way or another, even against our own individual race, but it doesn't make us "Racist". Ignorant? Yes and some of us maybe also considered something even worse, a "Bigot". The words "Racism and Racist" are used too loosely in our society today and has a tendency to open up old wounds. In order to battle it, we need not to give these words the power they don't deserve. What this App proposes to do, is to allow those who would like to help stimulate the growth of black owned businesses, by providing them with a way of identifying them in the community. This is certainly "NOT" Racism. For decades, blacks have had a very difficult time obtaining small business loans, businesses leases, leases for capital equipment, lines of credit and insurance policies (including residential homes loans in many cases) in comparison to whites. This has been documented and prosecuted all the way up to this past decade (Nationwide Ins, Chase, Wachovia Bank, to name a few). Black owned businesses are not regularly found in major shopping malls, major retail centers, business service listings, etc., therefore they have limited exposure and resources to promote their businesses to a broader market to stimulate individual business growth. I can understand where you are coming from "initially" when you first glance at the idea of such an App (the knee jerk reaction), however, once you dive a little deeper into the impact that Systematic Racism has had on the black community, one can fully understand the need for such a tool/App to help reshape the imbalance that systematic racism has caused over the years. This is not to say, that there aren't many successful black entrepreneurs or black owned enterprises, however, the many years of discrimination against the black race has stifled its overall growth in this community. Martin Luther King was talking about individual identity, when he talked about the color of "our" skin, and while we have made great strides over the past few decades, we still have a long, long way to go, particularly in the "business and retail sectors". We simply aren't there yet. If you still don't fully understand and fail to agree with usefulness of the App and the true impact "Racism" has had on the black community, I encourage you to educate yourself on the true meaning of "Racism", "Bigotry" and the many documented cases in which blacks have been denied access to resources to start a small business. There have been major settlements as DOJ has investigated and prosecuted many of such cases over the years. It's not always obvious, nor is it always what you see on the surface, but once you educate yourself on the subject at hand, you should be able to appreciate the need to do more. No one is obligated to use the App, no should anyone feel they should have to help promote black businesses by using their services, frequenting their establishments or buying their products, but by taking these small steps perhaps we as "one nation under God" can contribute to helping to heal this community, making America the land of equal opportunity as we claim to be. This is not a sermon, just a few words of wisdom.

What this App proposes to do, is to allow those who would like to help stimulate the growth of black owned businesses, by providing them with a way of identifying them in the community. This is certainly "NOT" Racism. For decades, blacks have had a very difficult time obtaining small business loans, businesses leases, leases for capital equipment, lines of credit and insurance policies (including residential homes loans in many cases) in comparison to whites. This has been documented and prosecuted all the way up to this past decade (Nationwide Ins, Chase, Wachovia Bank, to name a few). Black owned businesses are not regularly found in major shopping malls, major retail centers, business service listings, etc., therefore they have limited exposure and resources to promote their businesses to a broader market to stimulate individual business growth.

You seem to be an Asian, why don't you make an app for asian business owners? Asian lives also matter