The point of no return of the American restoration after the murder of George Floyd
“To the entire restaurant industry, do you need us to remind you of your hiring practices using black workers to staff your establishments, and yet you silence our representation at the executive / corporate level ? Many of your employees are protesting in the street and you still haven't said anything. It is shameful. They are watching you and so are we." It is the testimony of Suzanne Barr, Chef and Owner of Suzanne Barr Food , a complaint that many companions of fatigue would sign.
Moving from word to action, Tanya Holland from the restaurant Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland she had a brilliant idea. The one she was falling for, she decided to put a “Black Owner” sign on the window of her store. Thanks to this sign of camaraderie, it was one of the few places on her street to escape the wrath of protesters, as $7 cappuccino cafes and big-chain fast-food joints were looted and/or destroyed. “It shows how important ownership is. I've been telling people that it's really important that there are black-owned businesses in a predominantly black community," she told Eater.
These are just two examples of thousands of voices of the restoration that have said enough is enough in America . After holding your breath with george floyd For an endless 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the black community has passed the threshold of pain against police brutality. The echo of his screams reverberates off the ceiling of the Oval Office and the collective sense of to be living a turning point it is palpable in each shed tear and in each raised fist. It is acted from the rage of course, but also from the history already written , racialized activism, violated civil rights and the fight against anyone who is not anti-racist and, therefore, supports the oppressor with his silence.
In this riot of unleashed acts, the US food system has entered a point of no return. The doubts that anyone could have about whether the murder of a black citizen in Minneapolis would have a direct impact on the post pandemic restoration they are dissipating. The countryside, the food industry and restaurants are concerned because they are aware that can be the fundamental tool for the great change.
It is no coincidence that the most negative effects of the coronavirus take two and a half months festering in neighborhoods where the black or Latino population of large American cities is the majority. The virus has made it clear that social distancing helps prevent the spread, but there is no meter of separation or mask that is worth if endemic racism wins the game. Why is it like this: If you are black or Latino, the chances of contracting the coronavirus are higher in the United States. . To this situation of helplessness has been added the definitive hammer blow impossible to digest, the knee of a white agent pressing the neck of a black citizen until suffocation.
Perhaps one of the reasons for understanding inequality and historical segregation in the nation of stars and stripes is, obviously, the economic factor. the documentarian Michael Moore He put his finger on the sore spot with numbers on the table: “A white family averages a net worth of $171,000 in 2020. Do you know how much a black family averages? $17,000.” It's 154 thousand dollars difference . A world of opportunities among which is the luxury of buying fresh food at the supermarket or going out to eat at a restaurant with your loved ones. If we look at the official data in one of the most expensive cities in the United States, the abyss is even darker. White households in Boston have a Median net worth of $247,500 while the african american households they stay with a net worth of 8 dollars.
In short, there is little presence of indigenous and black agriculture in supermarkets , there are few black-run food companies, there are few golden minutes in the media for black kitchen voices with something to say there are few gastronomy awards for black cooks and there is very few black diners in trendy restaurants in the United States . It is something debated in discussion forums and representative voices of the southern gastronomy . Why do restaurants congratulate themselves on occupying a single table in the entire dining room with black customers? That feeling of being “the only ones” in the entire restaurant is something talked about among the black community. It's not blatant racism, it is a more painful racism because it internalizes the feeling of whether the person deserves to be there . There are many who have learned to live with that strange feeling in the body while eating. Perceiving that you are in an exclusive environment, not to say hostile . Others rightly refuse to live it and decide not to go to these restaurants.
That's why organizations like Black Food Sovereignty, The Black Hospitality Coalition, Ghetto Gastro, Soul Fire Farm or Radical Xchange are gaining weight. Its objective? Increase the presence of the black community in the field of the food and catering industry so strengthen their food sovereignty . In other words, that a restaurant is a reflection of the racial diversity of the streets , so that they become a true sample of all communities and cultures beyond the easy photo to gain likes on social networks.
But before reaching the final objective, one must mark some minimums , and these go through supplying all the arrested citizens, mostly black, during the demonstrations, and making a listing of all black-owned restaurants so people know where to eat . Many people who want to contribute their grain of sand to the cause can start here: spending their money in the restaurants of black cooks and cooks . And it is that if their dining rooms are full, the black community will have sufficient economic funds not to fear for the future of their businesses, since many of them are still at a minimum after the viral pandemic.
With the minimum covered it is easier to better hit the core of the problem . “The restaurant and food systems of the United States depend on the exploitation of black and brown bodies . The repeated silence from applauded leaders, gatekeepers, organizations and media it's just evidence that they don't want to change anything," says Ashtin Berry, activist and co-founder of Radical Xchange . ”Of course the systematized death of black people is a problem of the restoration! The sector has blood on its hands”, she says in a perfect summary of the state of the matter that she has posted on her Instagram account generating a closed applause.
Professional sommelier , her obsession is that the fateful date of May 25, 2020 and the death of george floyd They are not considered as an isolated event. Racism is a monster with many tentacles against which they have been fighting for years with greater or lesser success. The only thing that changes on each occasion is the proper name of the black citizen in the police file, but the unclarified circumstances usually have a common framework. What has been unique this time is that the death has been broadcast live on social networks and many onlookers have first interested in racial conflict . "The explotion of black bodies and black labor in this industry it is not new and it is more than documented, ”she says before giving a very topical example in restaurants in the United States. “ The tip structure is just one of the foundations of white supremacy in this industry. . A labor law that was built to restrict the accumulation of wealth by newly freed blacks . And now, we hear white bartenders scream about how unfair they are, never acknowledging the blackness at the root of the tipping system."
Her main complaint with the current gastronomy boom in the media is that “we spend time highlighting new black chefs and waiters while denying the day job that would make these things a standard, not an applause for excellence from a few magical black people who know how to do things.” Again the concept of "the only ones" . In her opinion, the contradiction in the American food system is that “ white people hire us as their tellers , porters, delivery drivers, cooks, or maybe as hosts to sell diversity . They claim to welcome everyone equally and we sit at the table as we watch as, implicitly or explicitly, people like us are denied jobs or even income perpetuating the notion that we are violent people”.
Something that does not change when they are customers. In your case, it seems that customers are not always right. . “When we are their guests, they do not protect us against the violent in their space. We are questioned and then the police are called because having any type of system for the resolution of labor disputes in this industry would be to recognize that their workers or clients they deserve to be treated like humans . They just abandon us when we become inconvenient.” In this situation, it is normal for many white people to want to help, but with serious doubts about how to do it without screwing up. This restoration activist gives the key to the heart: “ Don't say Black Lives Matter when you're complicit in racism. Don't say Black Lives Matter without participating in the fight against racism, when you refuse to acknowledge the history that built this industry behind our backs”.
Another different and equally effective way of confront entrenched racism in the US food system is to look towards the field, and more specifically to guarantee the food justice . Soul Fire Farm seeks to empower the black community by teaching all the agricultural techniques necessary for the construction of urban gardens in marginalized communities. For a long time, it has been shown to be an essential tool for the survival and independence of any community. "If you can feed yourself, you can free yourself," he says. Leah Penniman , co-founder of Soul Fire Farm and author of Farming While Black , a major book to understand the injustices against blacks in American agriculture.
"We have always seen, and continue to see, food sovereignty linked to the freedom of people. If you have no control over the food system , you essentially remain at the expense of a racist and capitalist food system in terms of basic survival needs," he tells Civil Eats. The hyperlocality of the supply chain has been more relevant than ever when supermarket shelves emptied or prices skyrocketed. That's why Soul Fire Farm is hosting a weekly chat, called Ask a sista farmer , so that anyone can share her doubts and solve the problems of their orchards thanks to the skills of a professional farmer.
“Soul Fire Farm is a community farm committed to ending racism and injustice in the food system. We raise and distribute life-giving food as a means of ending food apartheid ”, they say ambitiously. “We are training the next generation of farmer-activists and strengthening movements for food sovereignty and community self-determination.”
A very diaphanous way of checking the Racial segregation in the big cities of the United States is to make use of Atlas of Inequality . If, for example, the city of Boston is searched again, it is alarming to realize that the location of the home is not the only reason for racial segregation , so is the place where free time is spent and -important- where do you eat . How can it be that two coffee shops in downtown Boston 1 minute apart have customers with such different purchasing power? "The key is that segregation is happening over very short distances, even just 25 meters across the street ", explained Esteban Moro, from MIT and the Carlos III University of Madrid, and one of the main directors of the initiative. In the Atlas of Inequality each red dot is just that, a dot . But in real life each of those red dots is most likely a story where racism, inequality or injustice are key factors . And sadly, on too many occasions, a restaurant or café steps in to make the equation even more complex.