|
A Scourge in the ’Hood
"Before I turned 21, I could get a tall can of malt liquor for less than a dollar."
By Anyi Howell
Two liquor stores vandalized. Four Oakland, California men charged with felonies, including hate crimes. Police say the men were part of a group that went store to store in late Novemeber, demanding the owners stop selling alcohol to blacks, and smashing bottles and merchandise. In mid-December, Oakland residents held a town meeting and discussed what some see as a dangerously large number of liquor stores in African American neighborhoods. Youth Radio's Anyi Howell is upset that his community has had to deal with this recent round of vandalism...incidents Howell says the local media has misinterpreted.
When I was little and my dad drove around with me near our house in West Oakland, he used to point out how many liquor stores and churches were right across the street from each another. Riding with him through a city like Oakland, we could almost make a game of it. But I didn't know if he would find the game funny, so I never brought it up.
Oakland has been in the news recently because several black men demolished a liquor store and reportedly threatened the store owner for “poisoning the Black community.” Some news reports chose to focus on the fact that they were black Muslims attacking Arab-owned stores. That may be one layer to the story, but I’m looking at it from a different point of view.
For me, the proliferation of these liquor stores adds to community problems like public drunkenness and domestic violence. And it’s easy to get alcohol without being ID’d. If you are carded, fret not, just walk down the block.
Before I turned 21, I could get a tall can of malt liquor for less than a dollar. O r I could pick up a Paul Mason brandy for four dollars and a fifty cent soda to mix it with. I didn’t run out and terrorize the streets of Oakland, although I did act foolish. But I know people who do and have run amok, and “likka stoe” specials have been the recipe for that hyper rowdy activity. In my neighborhood, if I want to go to a grocery store with a real produce department, I probably pass at least five liquor stores on my way.
Store owners say they’re just serving a demand, and that the drug dealers hanging around their shops are the REAL poison pushers. But I think the notion of “Discoutn Liquor” just sounds like a good deal on a different type of drug. I have to ask why liquor stores, and not Starbucks, are booming in our neighborhoods. I’d love to see a bigger variety of stores in my area that would create respectable job opportunities, as opposed to just setting up shop and sucking up dollars.
|
|
