[size=18]In California, Muslim-Owned Liquor Stores Become A Target[/size]By Shahed Amanullah, December 1, 2005
[i]On one side, Muslim immigrants say they're just trying to make a living. On the other, an African-American neighborhood struggles to rid itself of an abundance of liquor stores.[/i]
The issue of liquor stores in poor African-American neighborhoods such as those in Oakland, California has long been an issue of contention with urban activists. Seen by many as magnets for criminal behavior and contributing to alcohol abuse among the poor, liquor stores were one of the first targets in the 1992 Los Angeles riots. It gets even more complicated when you consider that 80% of Oakland's 360 liquor stores are owned by Yemeni Muslim immigrants. Aside from the obvious implications of Muslims selling alcohol (and in turn contributing a large share of the donations for several Bay Area mosques), this fact brings a religious dimension to a community conflict where Muslims can be found on both sides of the struggle. While a few Muslim community members (mainly African-Americans) have raised the issue of Muslims contributing to the decline of inner-city neighborhoods through their domination of the liquor store business, the war of words has never escalated into violence. For that, it took an offshoot Muslim group (well, make that an offshoot of an offshoot) to finally take matters - and several crowbars - into their own hands last week at two stores. "The suspects entered the store and questioned why a Muslim-owned store would sell alcoholic beverages when it is against the Muslim religion," Oakland police said in a statement. Then, in full view of video cameras, the store was vandalized until broken bottles of hard liquor littered the floor. A few days later, store clerk Abdel Hamdan was kidnapped and thrown in a trunk while others lit the store on fire. Spokespeople from the Nation of Islam joined the Yemeni American Grocers Association to condemn the attacks. "That is not our way," said Nation of Islam spokesperson Tony Mohammed. "Our job is to kill the appetite (for alcohol) in the black community." After denying any knowledge of the attacks, a spokesman for the splinter Black Muslim sect that runs a bakery (their slogan: "A Taste of the Hereafter") and other small businesses in North Oakland (and apparently thinks the Nation of Islam is too soft) turned himself in to authorities. Yusuf Bey IV - whose father founded the sect and died last year amid charges of corruption and rape - turned himself in along with an accomplice to face charges of robbery, vandalism, and making terrorist threats. While this particular string of attacks may have been solved, the larger issue of alcohol in poor neighborhoods - and Muslim complicity in its proliferation - has yet to be addressed by the larger immigrant Muslim community in a more productive manner. Barring that, more violence may be on the way.
Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com
[url=http://www.altmuslim.com/perm.php?id=P1602_0_24_0]alt.muslim[/url]
Ok, some discussion points:
why do so many muslims sell alcohol/haraam products?
what can and should be done?
how can/should vigilante action be stopped?
I notice they talk to Nation of Islam... was no muslim group available for comment?
why people do it?
the money blinds them
either that or they seem to think its Halaal - WHICH IT CLEARLY ISNT
and Nation of Islam are big there, either them or that guy ermmm....4got his name, but some blkac muslim guy in US who keeps on kickin off with rappers
The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.
Caught by our own thoughts,
We worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.
ɐɥɐɥ
Louis Farrakhan.
They talked to the NOI because they were suspected of doing it. The guys caught on camera were wearing bow ties and suites like the NOI do.
i wasnt on about Luis Farakkahn
cant remember guys name....
The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.
Caught by our own thoughts,
We worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.
ɐɥɐɥ
I hate that guy - fantastic violinist though
Met him at a cultural event I attended representing my parents
Remarkably intelligent person for a total racist
lol
can you believe, they actually let him in the UK as well despite many protests
The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.
Caught by our own thoughts,
We worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.
ɐɥɐɥ
lol well no reason to keep him out... NOI aren't terrorists - just racists.
Actually many of them aren't... kinda got mixed feelings on the NOI. They really messed up Islam, they often embrace racist ideas.
but on the other hand they've done a lot for black people and generally speaking have some pretty intelligent interesting people among their ranks
we dont like racists :evil:
clever or not, stupid evil ideologies!
he still head of NOI? what about the original leader (4got another name!!). his 7th son took over and converted it to Orthodox Islam....much against Farrkhans will
The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.
Caught by our own thoughts,
We worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.
ɐɥɐɥ
I forgot how it worked out but the original NOI believed the founder was the mahdi (that's one of the many major mistakes that seperates them from sunna islam) a while back they gave up their beliefs that differed from the mainstream and integrated into the sunni world.
Luis didn't like that much so he started a new org called it NOI and reestablished the old beliefs.
Or something like that...
so the original org merged, this is a revival
yeah thats it
but whos the other guy whos name i cant put my finger on!!
speaks out against a lot of rappers coz they bring down black people....Muslim geeza.....ermmmmm
The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.
Caught by our own thoughts,
We worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.
ɐɥɐɥ
hmmm... spike lee maybe? - and in fairness not all rap brings down black people.
Tribe Called Quest, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, and Common are all really good.
I'm not really up on NOI history - i've got a friend that's a member i'll ask him if he signs on tonight.
spike lee a muslim?!
those rappers aint the same as the mainstream, agreeed. but they dont do enough IMO to improve the status of Black people
the inudstry is all about the Grind, gettin ya paper
The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.
Caught by our own thoughts,
We worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.
ɐɥɐɥ
lol true...
I always got the feeling spike lee was a muslim - of course bill cosby isn't so theres that...
The thing that bothers me about rap and basketball is that since age 5 that's what black kids are told to aspire to.
To a certain extent other careers that fulfill more important social functions and are more easily attained are actually discouraged.
yup
the mentaility is catchin on within our asian communities as well, at least defo the paskitani people (cant really say indians, they doin gud on the whole)
they all wanna be rappers or lead the hood life
sometimes its not entirely thier fault, but i feel they are playing into the hands of [b]The Man[/b], he has them where they want to be
The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.
Caught by our own thoughts,
We worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.
ɐɥɐɥ
....and thats where the rappers are failing
them and the MTV culture are keepin the kids du.mbed down
The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.
Caught by our own thoughts,
We worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.
ɐɥɐɥ
lol definitely
I get the feeling that's what Ali G is always screwing around about
An asian rapper... cute
And british to boot? now that's just absurd.
What happened to yall becomming doctors?!
You're good at it!
Stick with what works.
i'd say outta every 10 pakistani and bengali kids......(guys)
10 go to school
8 go to college
5 go to univeristy
3 actually complete it and get a degree
1 gets a GOOD job
girls are diff IMO, they generally do better - more potential, but unfortunately many face a life marrying an import theyve never met before, and wish they never had
so as you can see..........many drop out at all kindza stages, and basically........every1 here wants to be the Gangster 50 cent! the pimp Snoop, the OG 2pac, the Huslter Jay-Z
times have changed man, and it sucks - its the whole celebrity thing - theyve got every1 hooked on it
all the girls wanna be like thier fav celebs, striving, goin outta thier way for it
The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.
Caught by our own thoughts,
We worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.
ɐɥɐɥ
Pretty sad
Anytime somebody challenges it they are called a racist
No idea why
Maybe there should be a thread about this
I guess this is the dividend of western wealth - look at China, they are pumping out something like 200,000 engineers a year.
Hope you know mandarin
i can swear in mandarin if that helps??
challenging it is hard............around my area, every1 is sellin drugs or tryna get involved in it
or jus loafin around wastin thier lives
any money stolen or russled up is wasted on designer clothin or cars
(so many people have niceer cars then houses!)
and you can speak out against it ......... they think ur a snob, and ur not liked and u can get shot lol
The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.
Caught by our own thoughts,
We worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.
ɐɥɐɥ
lol sounds like you live in the suburbs.
I'm more afraid of getting shot in the middle class neighborhoods than I am the inner city - at least people there actually care about cleaning stuff up (thus the reason the liquor stores are not appreciated), but in the burbs you get some crazy white kid that wants to prove his rapping credentials and you might find your ride back home in an ambulance.
Drugs a big problem there too?
Coke floats through the air here - it's amazing
dont think we have suburbs here, well not what im imagining you mean by it
were townspeople, jus outside manchester
not exactly inner city, stuff is jus cr*p there
but its rough..........quite sadly, not many white people left in my area, and those that are - fairly poor and dont have much choice
the ones with a choice, moved
which is no good for intermixing with other races, now a lotta kids grow up with racist mentalities without realising so
Drugs is a massive problem
i was only stood in my own shop and i hear some people discussin openly about thier deals. i know so many, could have half my area locked up
but i probably never would
The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.
Caught by our own thoughts,
We worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.
ɐɥɐɥ
sounds like something analagous to the white flight
that's no damn good - when people seperate up like that you develop in isolation
I always got the feeling there were still some pretty bad latent racial probs with britain - when I was there the time before last a waiter made a snidish comment about "Londonistan" which really never clicked for me
know what ya mean about the drugs, it's at a point where if you reported somebody for using the cops would laugh at you, and if it's a deal it had better be over $100 because they aren't gonna give the the time of day othewise
this is all becomming the status quo
indeed it is
but the reason i wouldnt tell over them, besides the fact nothing will probably come off it (punishments given to drug abusers are weak), is that its jus one of those things you never do - grass sum1 up. especially if you know them. worse if ur related
yup, people in my area i can speak for at least, may are developing in isoloation
some do go out into the world and thier experiences open thier eyes and minds
but many juveniles stay stuck in the hood, and cant see anythin, deluded
The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.
Caught by our own thoughts,
We worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.
ɐɥɐɥ
relatives eh?
that's definitely gotta hurt - i can see why you wouldn't want to say anything
the demand is always gonna be there, people are weak and foolish - the supply needs to be killed
supply is comin from all directions tho
the influx of asylum seekers and immigrants who wanna earn quick money dont help, they gettin involved in it too
yup - relatives. you cant grass on them, and even if they not - they people from ya nieghbourhood, it just seems wrong to snitch on em
even theo they may be upto no good, quite a lot, as people are nice guys
The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.
Caught by our own thoughts,
We worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.
ɐɥɐɥ
the US is facing the supply problem bigtime now that canada decriminalized cannabis - all of a sudden our open border with the c'nucks might need to be pinched a bit.
worst timing in history too, we are trying to build a free exchange zone with canada and mexico
ever contemplate where "too far" is with relatives tho? like that movie traffic where the girl starts out a light user, then gradually gets worse and worse until she is a total junkie
grassin people up sucks but sometimes it's a necessary intervention - and the earlier the better to prevent total dependency
no thankgod none are junkies
here cannabis is every1s favourite friend
they get mashed and do stupid things all the time
may be worse, dont know
but you cant grass on em, even tho u knw its probably right to do so, offer em help or disassociate yourself from them
The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.
Caught by our own thoughts,
We worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.
ɐɥɐɥ
yea... help only makes a difference when it's welcome
i'm surprised cannabis is the worst you've got - cocaine is getting crazy here, of course the border makes that pretty sustainable
seen some friends fall to it unfortunately
yeah, i take it the films dont lie when they potray coke in the US
cannabbis is the common one, every1 into it and every1 can handle it, and every1 can get hold of it
but coke is probably slightly more rare, but then again, im not too sure on that
i know its bieng taken, nut dont know by how many
weed is soft....i think people here got slightly more brains or jus more scared
The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.
Caught by our own thoughts,
We worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.
ɐɥɐɥ
well also remember weed used to be a hard drug - the only thing that made it soft was its popularity
I still consider it pretty bad... albeit not as bad as coke
might surprise you to know coke is considered "not that bad" over here
had to run one of jaydas friends to the hospital because she ODed
lol go for a visit and spend quality time with her drugged out friends
what are boyfriends for anyway
It's all a matter of availability - if it gets cheap in the UK, people will take it en masse
true true
i think its fair to say, the US is a lil advanced in the drug trade
at this rate, coke will be cheap and common no doubt
and if the government continue to act softly, or if they downgrade the class of the drugs - its evident we will end up like the US, riddled with coke
The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.
Caught by our own thoughts,
We worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.
ɐɥɐɥ
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