Number Six: Increase Presence of Liquor Stores
If you take a walk down the street in any community, the evidence of how people feel about the community is clearly demonstrated on the types of products being sold in the community. We can complain about the high quantity of liquor stores, but business owners are simply target marketing based upon demographic research in that community.
Let’s look at my hometown Detroit which is 82.7 percent Black. According to Wayne State University Center for Urban Studies, of the 1,130 liquor license holders, 60 percent (683) of them were located in areas where the poverty rates ranged between 25.1 percent and 50 percent. Throughout the entire city of Detroit, there were 205 liquor license holders in areas where poverty was less than 25 percent.
When you see a liquor store on the corner, know they have done their research of the habits, poverty levels and crime in the community. Detroit’s crime rate was 2,122.9 per 100,000 residents compared to 454.4 per 100,000 in all of Michigan according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Hence, you will see the addition of bulletproof glass to the store. They might perceive us as a risk to do business with, but the money they make exploiting our bad habits makes the risk worth taking.
When you are drunk, you get to escape your current reality…until you sober up. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) publishes that nearly one-quarter of all public substance abuse treatment admissions in 2008 were African Americans…much of that is due to alcoholism.
Ryan C. Mack’s ministry is money. Check out his book Living in the Village.
