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By Charles AbdulAlim Chear

Some of the biggest cases of extrajudicial killing of Black men involve a convenience store.

Michael Brown was arrested at a liquor store before being killed by police in Ferguson. Alton Sterling was selling CDs outside of a convenience store where he was killed. Travyon Martin was returning from a 7-11 when he was killed by George Zimmerman Skittles bought from the store became symbolic of Trayvons innocence.

And now, George Floyd was killed by police in front of Cup Food, a convenience store in Minneapolis.

The list of killings, unfortunately, can go on.

Some say Cup Food bears some responsibility for Floyds killing since an employee was the one who called police. Others have commended the response by Cup Food, which permitted a mural be painted of Floyd on a wall outside of the store.

What should we expect from small businesses when an injustice happens like the killing of George Floyd?

Convenience stores in urban neighborhoods are typically run by Asian, Middle Eastern and Hispanic immigrant families. There is usually a good relationship with customers, many of whom are Black and non-immigrants. Occasionally, there is conflict and in the worst cases, killings of a store worker or customer. Depending on who was killed, concerns about anti-Black racism may arise.

Seldom, however, do we get the full story from store owners. While the owner of Cup Food spoke out against the killing of George Floyd, many store owners stay silent when something like this happens. As a result, suspicions arise that owners are uncooperative and may be hiding something.

I personally know about this. A decade ago, an armed robber was killed by a police officer in my aunts corner store in Philadelphia. Both the robber and police officer were Black. My aunt is Cambodian. A community group asked her to publicly talk about what had happened, but she declined. As a result, a boycott led by the community group ensued.

I asked her why she declined. She said it was because of trauma and fear of saying the wrong thing. She also did not understand what speaking out would achieve. As a refugee and survivor of domestic violence, being anonymous became a survival tool for my aunt. In the United States, remaining anonymous can have the opposite effect.

A beloved restaurant, Gandhi Mahal, was burned down during protests in Minneapolis. When the owner, an immigrant from Bangladesh, was asked about it, he spoke not on behalf of his wellbeing but the need for justice for George Floyd. His compelling response, as a result, has led to an outpouring of support from people around the country.

Some are comparing the current protests to the Los Angeles Riots. When the Los Angeles Riots occurred, it was framed partly as a Black-Asian conflict. Fast forward to today: surveillance footage that shows George Floyd did not resist arrest came from Dragon Wok, a restaurant owned by a Black and Asian couple. This hints at positive changes in race relations since the Los Angeles Riots, although more is clearly needed to unify communities against injustice.

The history of businesses in urban neighborhoods, especially convenience stores, has not always been good. But the responses by the owners of Cup Food, Gandhi Mahal, and Dragon Wok are certainly ones we can learn from. Rather than staying silent, they spoke out and chose to engage with communities. However, if a business owner does not speak out, it does not necessarily mean that they do not care about injustice.

During the extrajudicial killing of Black men, convenience stores and other small businesses have been part of the narrative; either where it happened, or the backdrop of protests and riots which is what we are witnessing today. Some small business owners have a double anger: wanting justice for George Floyd, and against the destruction of their businesses by people exploiting an otherwise righteous protest.

Small business owners have always been an integral part of urban communities and capable of being part of the solution. It is now, however, that many are learning how to speak out against injustice.

Charles AbdulAlim Chear is a Ph.D. student at Rutgers University studying children and families working in immigrant small businesses.

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What role do small businesses have when injustice happens? - NJ.com