Buying Black, Black Exploitation for Profit and Nike.
Black people supported my business when a Starbucks employee racially profiled 2 Black men. What does it mean for Black businesses when white owned businesses “get it”?
The consumer class has considerable power and the scales don’t always tip in the favor of Black business owners. Most of us [Black business owners] are fully aware of the challenges Black consumers face when interacting with businesses across the board, but we’re especially attentive to the already strained relationship between Black consumers and Black business owners.
My tea business is a one woman show — I make the recipes, blend the teas, then bottle and label every tea myself. I also manage the marketing: promoting the teas, managing social media, creating and sending emails to current/potential customers, designing graphics, snapping/editing photos, attending trade shows, participating in podcast interviews, writing blogs, and curating informational content on IGTV and Twitter about herbalism and herbal tea. When all of that works together, I take the rest of my time to pack orders and ship them within two days. I also have a day job.
Thanks to the internet, everything is smaller. And, as a result, I am required to meet a higher standard and compete with Amazon and all the other more established tea companies out there. I rely heavily on my customers being individuals who see the value of their dollar and the importance in shopping small or minority owned, being health conscious, and liking me. Then, and only then, can I sell the high quality, full flavor, hand blended teas made by a hardworking and relatable herbalist. I want customers to see that I take this seriously and appreciate their business and that I am just like them — fulfilling my purpose, grinding, etc.
So, when I got a surprise influx of orders back in April-May 2018, a result of articles written by Black bloggers and social advocates, calling for the protest of Starbucks after two Black men were racially profiled and subsequently arrested by police in Philadelphia because a Starbucks employee was threatened by their presence, I was…happy. Not about the circumstances, but because people could find my business. That meant it was easy to find. My SEO and social media advertising and word-of-mouth had been working great. I wasn’t doing too badly for a solopreneur.
A month or two later, when the “hype” was dead and long after Starbucks closed a few stores and hired a consultant to “unteach” implicit bias, I was still happy that I had retained some of those customers, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I felt like my work as an herbalist and Black owned herbal tea maker wasn’t that important to people. My business was a part of a short lived protest, similar to rebellion by a teen against an overbearing father. Many had gone back to shopping at Starbucks and the boycott was over. I saw tweets that pretty much said, “What more do you want them to do? They’re fixing the problem. That’s better than most.” And those people are right — there have been countless stories as of late about Asian nail salons and their abuse of Black consumers, but there has been no real change because these boycotts are temporary and convenience is not.
In a society like this one, Black abuse is profitable in every industry, from news stations to my small Black owned business. And that really makes me angry because that’s so not what Ivy’s Tea Co. is here for. I may seem critical of the “Buy Black” reaction, but I am not because I understand it, support it fully, and have benefited from it (unintentionally, but still).
I just wonder what happens when a white owned company exploits Black interests? Insert Nike. “Buy Black” accounts all across social media that have built their following by calling for the boycott of white owned corporations, regardless of their stance on issues related to the rights of Black people in this country. Buying Black is a way of life, the key to Black uplift, etc. Yet with Nike’s endorsement of Colin Kaepernick, things are…different. Nike has bet on the Black dollar (once again and in real time) and Colin is a part of its marketing ploy. We, the consumer, assume that Nike at least somewhat agrees with Colin’s stance against police brutality. Because that’s what this is all about, right?
But, while admirable and brave, Nike doesn’t need Kaepernick to take a stance against police brutality. If this is the case, then aren’t they exploiting Black interest (in this case, it’s the collective Black demand for fair treatment by members of law enforcement) for profit? Black owned businesses aren’t typically able to engage Black consumers this way because we don’t have celebrity access and we don’t have the longevity to build the brand awareness that attracts celebrity, like white owned corporations. By the time we’re able to actively participate this way, our engagement would make us “late to the party,” so to speak. And why should we have to engage like this at all when we’re only celebrated on the heels of socially inept corporations who employ individuals who act violently towards Black people?
I saw Nick Cannon buying Nike socks to donate to the homeless on social media. And it was weird because Nick Cannon is conscious…he’s very aware of Black buying power. He is Black buying power.
Why is Nike more deserving of the Black dollar in this moment than any other Black owned business? Why are we being summoned to buy Nike stock in this moment? At the end of the day, this all about money. And if we’re cognizant of this, then why aren’t we pushing a Buy Black narrative now? It matters now just as much as it does when Black consumers are being harassed, beaten, arrested, pepper sprayed, thrown out, illegally searched and over-charged by white owned businesses. There are a few Black owned sneaker companies that I’m sure would appreciate the free publicity. What happens to the Buy Black philosophy if white owned corporations see this Nike case study in real time and adopt it? What’s left for Black owned businesses, like mine, if we’re putting out A grade product, or even B grade product, and getting only a cursory glance after mass produced B and C grade products have been viewed? What about us? And what about what we can do for one another? How can I prove to you that we need one another? Maybe I can’t. Maybe proving this doesn’t matter at all.
