Anthony Hamilton - Comin' From Where I'm From

Once Upon A Time When We Were Republicans

African Americans once voted Republican in large numbers.  We rallied behind Lincoln, who ended slavery,   Teddy Roosevelt, who invited Booker T. Washington to the White House, and Eisenhower for sending Federal troops to integrate Little Rock High School in Arkansas when many Democrats fought against equal rights for people of color.

We even carried ourselves in a much different light in those days.  We championed education as millions of  African Americans completed high school and college. We started scores of businesses in a segregated society and backed the institution of marriage to the fullest.

However, the Civil Rights Movement changed the course of history in the black community as African Americans looked desperately for a way out of Jim Crow throughout the land.

 Ironically, the Democratic Party answered the call or picked up where the Republicans left off.  At the historic Democratic National Convention of 1948,  President Truman staked the outcome of his presidency on the right of all Americans to live in peace without regard to race,  creed, or color.  It may have made a difference for Democrats in northern cities.

Later in the 1960s,  President Lyndon B. Johnson, a Democrat from Texas,  pushed for the Voting Rights Act of 1965,  The War On Poverty, and a host of other social programs in what was called the Great Society that became law.  Johnson also forced Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964,  which barred discrimination in employment and public places in an attempt to integrate African Americans into the rest of America.

Sadly,  too many African Americans misunderstood integration.  Its purpose was to uphold the Constitution.  We instead saw it as a chance to abandon most black institutions or a competitive two-party system.  As a result, black people are left, at least for the moment,  with rising crime, high unemployment, and single-parent households that cut to the very core of our existence.  

In politics,  African Americans are caught between a rock and a hard place today.  Democrats placate us, while Republicans ignore our vote altogether.  It's a far cry from a generation ago.

Death of The Mall

I remember the hustle and bustle of Main Street in my hometown on weekends and holidays growing up in the sixties and seventies.  It served as a meeting place, especially for African Americans,  who shopped till they dropped,  mingled with friends, or got a jump on the night ahead at one of the seedy bars or corner clubs.

But then they built a strip mall on the edge of town, and to add insult to injury,  a neighboring community built an indoor facility with seventy-six stores that nearly destroyed the downtown of both communities.

Years later,  the mall's heyday may be over due to modern technology and changing trends in the U.S. economy.

Online shopping has boomed in recent years.  It beats mall traffic and pushy store clerks,  especially during the holiday season.  But most importantly,  it allows a customer to shop without leaving the comforts of home.  And with the proliferation of smartphones,  shoppers can browse the store shelves of businesses while on break at work or on the subway headed home.

Moreover, stiff competition in a shaky retail market is having an impact on the future of malls.  For example,  Dollar General Stores and similar shops have siphoned off a share of the retail industry,  with small, well-designed stores on virtually every corner.  They specialize in decent,  affordable merchandise and serve as a crucial source of employment for those living in hard-hit rural and inner-city areas.

Similarly,  Walmart has threatened the future of malls since its transformation into a supercenter.  The retail giant, which boasts billions in annual sales, captivates customers with a wealth of fashion and household products.  Walmart stores also deal in meats and produce in most areas at a reasonable cost.  And like Dollar General,  Walmart employs thousands.

To survive,  it's been recommended that malls diversify or reevaluate how they do business.  It's been suggested that they add supermarkets to their host of stores or offer something for everyone regardless of age or gender, like Discover Mills or the Mall of Georgia in suburban Atlanta.  These malls survived the Great Recession when others went belly up.  Moreover, opening chain stores and galleries in urban areas has proved successful in New York City and Baltimore,  where residents live in food deserts and nice clothes are hard to come by.