Organizing in Communities of Color: Addressing Interethnic Conflicts

What happened next is still a matter of dispute. Like the Japanese folk tale "Rashomon," the principal actors recount completely different versions of the incident. The customer claims that she was accused of shoplifting and severely beaten by a store employee; the owner contends that Ms. Felissaint lacked sufficient funds to pay for items she had selected and became enraged, but that there was no physical altercation. The dispute and the subsequent arrest of owner Bong Jae Jang led to a boycott, with daily picketing of the market by African American activists. The boycott spread to include another Korean-owned business across the street from the Family Red Apple store. Some of the picketers carried placards that read, "Don't Buy From People Who Don't Look Like You." Although what actually transpired between Ms. Felissaint and the Jang family may never be known, it is clear that this conflict was being driven by much more than alleged mistreatment of a Black customer by an Asian merchant. Similar clashes between Asian merchants and African-American residents have led to organized protests and occasional violence in a number of other cities, including Washing? ton, Philadelphia, and Oakland. Both these incidents have brought to national attention a drama being played out on a smaller scale in urban neighborhoods across the nation. The rapid growth of immigrant Asian, primarily Korean businesses in predominantly Black neigh? borhoods has created an explosive situation, fraught with misconceptions, preju? dices, and danger on both sides. The merchants are viewed by Black people as