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The Unsung Victims of Ferguson
There’s much discussion circulating around the protesters rallying on account of the death of Michael Brown.
Since the time of the incident, we’ve seen a dramatic shift from the original narrative of an innocent, unarmed teen ruthlessly gunned down in the street for no reason other than the color of his skin; to an outright assault on an officer leading him to a self-defense response. More details continue to emerge as time goes on, but that seems to be the gist.
In the debate between those who take to the street demanding “justice” for Michael Brown, and those who side with the officer, there remains a number of victims that suffer in the shadows: business owners.
The story is almost always the same. Anytime you have you have a fact-free ideological, protest-fest, it’s small business owners that suffer.
Just a quick glance through photos of the days following Brown’s death, and it’s not hard to imagine the months of effort now required for store owners to recover from the “justice” mob movement. For many, their businesses were their livelihood which made these attacks all the more devastating. As many have noted, it’s difficult to understand how smashing windows and stealing merchandise will help the cause, but then we’re back to fact (and logic) free ideology—something in which coherence plays no part.
Image credits: STL Today
This is by no means a new concept, that is, business owners paying the price for unfounded “moral outrage.” During the wonders of Occupy Wall Street, fed up business owners decided to hold their own protest in frustration of the harm occupiers were causing to business. As it turned out, a massive group of rowdy, non-showering protesters and an even larger sanitation and health concern didn’t help these small businesses attract and serve customers.
As if this weren’t enough, businesses have to deal with an unsecured border (which alone is crushing nearby businesses) and the fear of being sued for upholding any level of religious conviction that can be mislabeled as “hate.”
Business owners, the very bread and butter of America’s economic state, are increasingly becoming the target (intentional or collateral) of nonsensical ideologies.
One thing to watch: next time an unrelenting mob or “political movement” takes root, watch and see how much it “helps” the little guy (the small business owner).
Published in General
Amazingly, in the future residents will decry a lack of businesses willing to open in the area and the high prices of those that are willing as racism.
One question Kevin Williamson asked on his Mad Dogs and Englishmen podcast today was this:
Why, if the Ferguson protesters are so angry at the cops and the city government, are they going after small businesses instead of city hall and the police station?
It is a good question. The French revolutionaries stormed the Bastille, after all, not the bakeries. If you are mad at city hall be mad at city hall. Cannot help wondering how angry the crowds really are.
Seawriter
In looking at some of the photos, the fact that looters wear masks tells us all loud and clear, without a word, what looters know in their hearts,
“What I am doing is wrong, I don’t want anyone to see me, because I will be punished.”
Talk about the innocent victims of an unfounded racial attack: The Business Owners.
Who will highlight the story of their pain and abuse?
I agree with your points, but I think something should be pointed out. If one assumes that all of the peaceful protesters are from the Ferguson area, they represents no more than 10% of the black population. Since all of the marches are not black and maybe as much as 30-40% are not from Ferguson, St Louis is only 6 Miles away, that percentage is probably much lower. This means that 90 – 95% of Ferguson’s black population is not protesting. I conclude from this that the Ferguson police are doing a decent job and the black populations is not that this satisfied with the job they are doing and are content to patiently wait for the out come of the investigation. The looters are no more than the criminal element doing what they always do.
You can be sure that the MSNBC crowd is not the least bit concerned about looting. It’s just a small down-payment on what they consider a right to slavery reparations.
Think also of the homeowners of Ferguson. If you listed your home before the shooting what is the likelihood that you’ll get your asking price now?
As already mentioned, this is a phenomenon that always applies to racial (or religious) riots. The rioters trash their own neighborhoods along with the usually small businesses that serve them. This was true in Paris with the Muslin riots a few years ago. With all the coverage those riots received, I read that tourists that stuck to the downtown tourist attractions, would see no signs of the violence or that anything was amiss.
After a few years go by in Fulton, expect complaints that residents can’t find affordable groceries in walking distance of where they live. They’ll have to drive, or take the bus for that.
Politicians couldn’t care less about small business owners; they don’t offer significant campaign contributions and their numbers are far too small to be a significant voting block
Having lived through the Rodney King Riots And Shopping Spree (favorite quote from an interviewed Hispanic looter when asked why he’s looting: “Everyting eees freeeee!”), it amused me to hear the anguished cries from local residents a couple of years later when they complained bitterly that businesses — for some strange and unstated reason — decided not to locate in their burned-out neighborhoods where the Michael Browns of the world think they can walk out with a $50 box of cigars because it’s their right.
On the plus side, I did score a load of inexpensive used red brick from the burned out buildings. Made a nice front walk and an enduring souvenir….
And also how many people automatically went “under water” on their mortgages the moment this started. Who would buy in that town now or start a business there?
Way to go morons. You’ve economically gutted your town to show solidarity with a punk.
I have always thought that the chant favored by the Sharpton/Jackson crowd, “No justice, no peace,” was, rather than a plea for justice, a threat of violence. Ferguson’s small business owners have been feeling the effects of that threat carried out. The mobs ostensibly seeking “justice” by rioting and stealing food and alcohol and electronics (and, perhaps, cigars) have not even waited for justice to “fail”. This was not a protest against a patently unjust verdict–this was violence and theft spurred by a case whose facts we do not even completely know yet. Anyone excusing such behavior is engaging in the soft bigotry of low expectations. Everyone should be repelled by it.
Exactly! Business owners are just treated as nothing. Then these areas complain about racism by grocery store chains for avoiding their areas. Never mind the companies in office buildings in the area.