Black Lives Matter activists in Chicago plan on blocking white-owned business entrances from consumers on Black Friday in order to push consumers to patronize businesses owned by “people of color and women.”
Black Lives Matter, local churches, and the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression plan on blocking stores parked along Michigan Avenue from consumers “to draw attention to a wide range of issues, including police shootings, racism and economic inequalities that keep Chicago’s South and West sides mired in poverty and violence,” reports Crain’s Chicago Business.
According to Black Lives Matter leader Kimberly Veal, a major function of the protest is to force consumers to forgo shopping at businesses owned by white people, white men in particular, and instead shop at venues owned by “people of color and women.”
“One of the cornerstones about why we’re boycotting on Black Friday is to attempt to redirect people to businesses owned by people of color and women, and explain why it’s important to patronize these businesses,” said Veal.
Frank Chapman, a protest organizer, is expecting huge numbers this year, thanks in part to the election of Republican Donald Trump.
“We’re expecting a bigger turnout this year, though this is not an exact science. The reason we’re looking for a bigger turnout is that Trump is the president-elect and, boy, are people pissed,” explained Chapman.
Although a major goal of the protest is to hurt the businesses of white store owners, Chapman contends that the members of the “white working class” will not be vilified too; they will be welcome to join the targeting of white store owners.
“We’ve been calling everyone who has a grievance: the African-American community, Latino people, the white working class,” he said. “I’m not going to write the white working class off as racist.”
Last year on Black Friday, Black Lives Matters and other left-wing groups protested their grievances across America by blocking consumers from entering stores. Shouts of “Shut it Down!” from protesters flooded the streets as consumers attempted to enter businesses to shop.
As noted by The Daily Caller, sales at such stores were down an estimated 25 to 50 percent below expected projections, thanks in part to the protests. Aldo sales associate Sarah Midoun claims her store under-performed by whopping $18,000.
“We were down a lot. We were budgeted to make $37,000 but we only did $19,000 — customers told us they were concerned,” said Midoun.
For the latest reports and videos of the 2016 Black Friday insanity, click here.