Culture Fragments™ – Beyond Resilience

by Otis T. Lindsey, Jr. –

When I wrote about Junior’s Barbershop, I wasn’t simply writing about a place to get a haircut.

I was writing about a community institution where stories are exchanged as freely as handshakes, where generations meet, and where culture is preserved in everyday conversation. Junior’s reminds us that some of the most valuable assets in a city never appear on a balance sheet.

That reflection raises a larger question: How should we measure resilience?

Too often, resilience is defined by what a community has endured. We recount displacement, “urban renewal,” and businesses that disappeared. Those stories deserve to be told. But perhaps resilience should also be measured by what remains, what continues to contribute, and what still has the power to create opportunity.

According to Explore Asheville, Buncombe County’s visitor economy generated nearly $3 billion in visitor spending in 2023, attracted nearly 14 million visitors, and supported more than 29,000 jobs. Those numbers reveal the extraordinary economic value of place and culture.

Now consider another number: approximately 6%. According to the US Census Bureau, that is the share of Buncombe County’s population that identifies as African American.

At first glance, 6% may seem like an ordinary demographic statistic. Through a LINDEX lens, however, it becomes something much more meaningful: a benchmark for resilience.

If Black heritage tourism generated an economic impact equal to the community’s 6% share of the population, it would represent roughly $180 million of the county’s nearly $3 billion visitor economy. If that impact reached 7%, the benchmark would exceed $200 million and approach $210 million annually. These figures are not measured market shares. Rather, they are illustrative benchmarks designed to help quantify cultural participation, economic contribution, and opportunity.

The logic is straightforward. A community that has experienced decades of displacement and structural barriers yet still contributes to the regional economy in proportion to—or beyond—its demographic presence demonstrates resilience that can be measured, not merely celebrated.

Under this framework, 6% is not a ceiling; it is a baseline. Anything above it suggests that African American heritage, culture, and related visitor activity may be generating economic value beyond its demographic footprint. Measuring that impact would require a structured inventory of cultural assets, visitor behavior, tourism spending, and economic outcomes. Nevertheless, the benchmark provides a useful starting point for discussion and future analysis.

Junior’s Barbershop offers a glimpse of that potential. It stands alongside churches, artists, entrepreneurs, educators, neighborhood traditions, and civic institutions that collectively define an authentic Asheville experience. Connected through regional heritage trails, cultural programming, storytelling initiatives, and coordinated tourism strategies, these assets could attract new visitors, extend stays, and generate meaningful local wealth.

This perspective changes the conversation. Instead of asking only what Black Asheville has lost, we begin asking what Black Asheville can build. We move from preservation to performance, from memory to measurement, and from resilience to opportunity.

The stories have always been here. The visitors are already coming. The opportunity now is to connect those stories through a regional strategy and measure their impact with the same seriousness we measure any other economic sector.

In that sense, 6% is more than a census figure. It is a measurable benchmark for resilience—a reminder that culture can be preserved, leveraged, and transformed into lasting prosperity for future generations.

The next step is measurement. Inventory the assets. Estimate visitor activity. Quantify economic impact. Then use the findings to guide investment, strengthen cultural preservation, and expand opportunity. Resilience, after all, is most powerful when it can be demonstrated as well as remembered.

Otis T. Lindsey Jr. is the Founder and CEO of LINDEX, LLC, a civic intelligence and community analytics firm focused on measuring community vitality and transforming data into actionable insights. He holds degrees in Economics and Community Economic Development and has spent more than 25 years working in housing, economic development, and community revitalization.

He is the creator of the Vitality Ecosystem Theory (VET) and the Vitality Ecosystem Index (VEI), frameworks designed to help communities measure, mobilize, and transform local assets. Through the Culture Fragments™ series, he explores the people, places, and institutions that shape community identity and opportunity. Visit www.lindex.ai.