The Invisible Black Asheville

As a relative “newbie” to Asheville and Buncombe County, perhaps my view is a little askew. Perhaps someone could explain why in a city as rich as Asheville, where you can’t throw a dead cat without hitting new construction and development, with Tiger’s new golf course on the horizon . . . why, amidst this economic ‘horn of plenty,’ I don’t see any rich black people out and about in our fair city.

Why are the only black businesses of any note relegated to one side street in downtown Asheville? Why nothing on the “Main” street? Are there any rich black people here? I don’t see any enjoying the nice restaurants, clubs and spas in town. Why is that?

I know the African
American community has a long history in the city and county, so I
wonder if the community was simply left out of all the important issues
and decisions that were being made as Asheville moved into prosperity?

Are any
African Americans being included in the present discussions about
Asheville’s future? Any businesses, contractors, workers of any kind
going to be working on the upcoming Ellington, that twenty two-story
edifice to the rich and infamous slated to be built in downtown? How
about Tiger’s golf course, or the dozens of other projects that County
Commissioners and City Council have approved?
Are any African Americans being recruited for executive positions in
the new hotels and businesses that are changing this city for better or
worse?

Is it
possible that because the voter turnout for African Americans in the
last election was about 3% black Asheville is invisible to the powers
that control where the prosperity finally ends up?

These
are questions that have troubled me since I arrived in Asheville. I
wonder why, with an African American mayor who is also female, more
emphasis is not placed on women and minority participation in getting a
slice of this economic pie – a few set-asides for affordable housing
notwithstanding.

Are
there not enough entrepreneurial black folks in Asheville to put
together a business proposal or combine resources to become involved in
the economic fabric of this city, and not just on the periphery?
I get an image of black people in Asheville, standing outside the candy
store or the fancy restaurant with our noses pressed against the window
pane, waiting for an invitation to come in — an invitation that’s not
coming.

I pose
these questions not to condemn or criticize, just maybe to draw
attention to the latest economic train that’s leaving the station
without any people of color on board. I wonder if it’s because of a
vacuum of black leadership that there is so much disparity between the
black and white economic conditions in a city as rich as Asheville.

One
issue I will criticize is the apathetic African American voter
participation. After all the people, black and white, who sacrificed
lives and injury for our right to vote, to have a 3% voter turnout for
any election is shameful – and Dr. King would rightly be ashamed. If
for no other reason than to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice
to gain our right to vote, we should be lined up every time an election
is held.

I think
finally it comes down to whether we have the ability to take our
destiny in our own hands and demand a piece of this enormous economic
boom, or will lament our bad fortune and say, “Oh, that’s just the way
it is, white folks won’t let us in… Woe is us!”

One way
to start taking your economic destiny in your own hands is to VOTE!
Then again, maybe we simply don’t have the ability; maybe our destiny
is to have others decide our destiny. But I certainly hope not. That’s
just my opinion.

Jesse Junior, Arden, NC