February 11, 2003

Corner racist

Right off a road that I travel often there is a corner in the middle of a very large black neighborhood, the blackest in the city. By 'blackest' I mean the number of people who live in this neighborhood that are black is very close to 100 percent, not that they possess qualities that are somehow 'black'.

At this corner is a Church's Chicken fast food restaurant. Across the street from this there is a KFC and a Bojangles, both chicken fast food places. There is a small shopping center with a bus stop in front of it and two chinese restarants, a barber shop (All haircuts $5), and a check-cashing place. Down the street is a Rentway and a Food Lion, General Dollar, and gas station.

Everytime I drive through I wonder why there are so many fucking chicken places. It almost makes me mad that the stereotype of black people liking chicken is being confirmed by thousands of white people driving past this corner everyday on their way downtown. It seems to me to be a disgrace in some way.

But here's the thing, do these restaurants exist outside of my mind? Do they confirm stereotypes to other people or am I noticing them only because I am aware of or somehow believe these stereotypes? Do people really think that blacks are chicken-eaters, or is this supposed widely-held stereotype simple a stereotype itself?

Did the management of KFC base their planning on this? Do they target black communities? Do I simply notice them more when they are in black communities?

February 11, 2003 07:31 AM