Sometimes the liberals complain about food deserts, and complain that major chain supermarkets, and other retailers, do not locate stores in the ghetto neighborhoods. And they imply that such actions are racist.
When we see what happened here, perhaps there are other reasons for businesses to avoid the ghetto? Such as fears for personal safety, greater security and insurance costs in high crime areas, and greater threat of your business being destroyed by civil unrest???
When I was teaching econ in Omaha, I asked my students to see if complaints about higher prices in the inner city were true. The result was that, on average, prices were higher by about 9%. The primary reason: theft-shoplifting and the resulting higher insurance costs.
Liberals point to a disproportionate number of blacks in jail compared to whites and they say it’s because of profiling. It could also be because blacks commit more crimes. In a debate between Orin Hatch and Jesse Jackson on gun control, Jesse was playing his usual blacks-are-the-victims to argue for gun control. Orin’s response: “If we subtract the violent crimes committed by black males between the ages of 18 and 29, the US would have a lower violent crime rate than Switzerland.” Jesse’s response: Crickets...
I used to have an acquaintence that owned a chain of “off price” grocery stores. Most of them were in middle class to lower middle class neighborhoods. One day he opened one in a poor and almost exclusively black neighborhood. This was in the mid-70’s.
The shoplifting was so serious that he had to shut it down after doing everything he could for two years. And the quality of the staff that was willing to work in such an environment was also part of the problem.
Trader Joe’s was going to open a store in what is supposedly a historically black neighborhood in Portland OR. The black community “leaders” opposed the store because they said it was too white and would lead to the gentrification of the area. A Trader Joe’s would be great for a “Food Desert.” They have reasonable prices on mostly healthy foods.