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Diversity in Columbus? The following article appeared in the December 4, 2007 issue of flypaper, a Columbus based social newsletter.
flypaper wrote
Back to Brownstone
WAKE UP and smell the catfish!
Article by Big Yogi, contact imageinq@gmail.com
Before I go into this article I would like to get something clear. The FLYPAPER is not just another quirky gimmick for people to take lightly. We are a movement and we represent the voice of the people who are not correctly represented in our city. We strive to reach our readers on a progressive level with content that matters to them and I feel this is a very important issue.
So, many of our FLYPAPER readers had the chance to be the first to hear about local restaurant/lounge THE BROWNSTONE on MAIN doors closing, seemingly for good, a couple of months ago. We received tons of feedback. Well, let me ask you one question. Where have you been since the Brownstone closed?
As I drove around on a soft Tuesday looking for a nice place downtown my sister and I could enjoy a nice atmosphere with a little flavor, I had to settle for going to Bar Louie. This made me realize that The Brownstone was more than a restaurant, it was a symbol of the current state of social diversity in Columbus. Brownstone was not just a business owned by Blacks it was a place that allows people of all ethnicities to enjoy a Black influenced cultural experience; that’s what diversity is all about.
While there have been hundreds of upscale establishments that have prospered long-term in Columbus none have been black owned. We may own the business (i.e. Lotus, Opulence, Bread and Better) but do we actually own the property? This should not be the case in 2007 but it is. If there were 10 other places like the Brownstone, then Brownstone could simply be considered a casualty of good business. (And you could tell me to stop jocking the Bstone, but when there are no others, you have to ask why.) And again, I’m not trying to sell you the success of Brownstone but how many Black owned establishments can boast of showcasing Black affluence in Columbus to host of A-listers such as Barack Obama, Jesse Jackson, John Kerry, Tavis Smiley, Spike Lee, Wesley Snipes, Bob Dole, Christina Aguillera, Al Sharpton, John McCain and more.
So what does that say about our culture? With no support from our own how can we represent cultural diversity and Black cultural influence in this growing metropolis? Where is our stake? If you travel to any large city you can find many establishments where people from many backgrounds share the Black experience in fine dining and entertainment. And one Black owned business supports the growth of another.Do you think banks will lend you the money to buy a building and open a restaurant if there is a history of grand openings/grand closings for minority businesses? I doubt it. As you read this, there are millions of dollars being put into new developments downtown and we have no part in that.
But there is hope for us young entrepreneurs who dream of a day when some of that money can be invested into our business ventures. The government, community, and corporate leaders need to take action on The Brownstone and keep pushing until there are 10 places like it in Columbus. Next time you’re e downtown, do me a favor, drive down High Street and take a look at all of the new buildings and businesses that are sprouting up and ask yourself, “Are any of them are Black owned?”Then, go home log onto your computer and email this article to 10 of your friends and to these following addresses:
Mayor-mac@Columbus.gov
Ty_marsh@columbus.org
pastleford@experiencecolumbus.com
Support Black-owned businesses Downtown, it’s your responsibility.
Jesse Jackson,, and Al Sharpton are A listers?
I’m also sad to hear about the end of the brownstone (it always seemed so busy I’m surprised to hear it went out of business).
It was a great place, good food, great atmosphere and we always had a good time when we visited.
I second that. Two of the most useless lumps of humanity I can think of.
Brownstone took a City loan for $250,000 and never paid it back. What’s that about?
I loved the Brownstone.
This post on Brownstone is baseless.
The City and Mayor did support the Brownstone, with significant small business loans as well as by sending customers, word of mouth and pr for their benefit. The Mayor and friends were among those who ate, met, and promoted the place, including the “A-listers” you describe, many of whom were only there because Mayor chose that location for an event. Few people did more to bring customers to the place than Mayor Coleman.
The Brownstone went out of business despite that support, because of management decisions and financial problems, just like dozens of other restaurants every year. You want to find out what really happened, look to the owners and managers of this privately-operated business and quit pointing fingers at folks who had nothing to do with its operations and investors. While we miss the great food and atmosphere, the City of Columbus is not in the restaurant business and had no role in this closing.
While you look into the past, we hope you will all support other great local black-operated restaurants with this passion, like Linden Cafe (where you can still get some of the best fish I’ve ever had).
And so, the city speaks out.
But misses the larger point. While I would never in my life take anything away from the Linden Cafe, because it is a fine example of a successful black-owned business and a great restaurant as well, the comparison is one of several points on which the above poster stands baseless. Brownstone was a FINE-DINING establishment. Can you point to one other black-owned restaurant like it? Can you point to a black-owned restaurant downtown like it? While the Mayor continues to talk the good talk about developing downtown and supporting diversity in the same, the one stretch of minority-owned business that exists downtown, the Red Brick District running along Main Street, has been the most ignored when it comes to downtown development. This lack of development hurt Brownstone and continues to hurt the other businesses in that area, minority-owned or otherwise. And it’s not enough to put condos in the area and call that development, there has to be support for the things that bring people to live in those condos. There has to be support for dining and entertainment venues in that area. When the Brownstone attempted to take an active part in the development of the area by installing a patio (tell me, did the Brownstone put the NO EXIT sign in the alley or did the city? Answer, the city), the city cowed to the pressure of a few while ignoring the support of the many generated by the very businesses who would have benefitted from the extra foot traffic the new patio would have brought, let alone the residents of those new condos who looked to the Brownstone as a haven of the diversity that the target condo-owner (young, hip, diverse, upwardly mobile) demands and the patio as a destination spot.
We all know that the city administration can make things happen when it wants to. It can’t be denied that the point the quoted article raises, the Brownstone as a thermometer of the social diversity climate in Columbus, rings loudly of truth. How is it possible that the city administration would not do everything in its power to ensure that a business that stood for as much as the Brownstone stands for succeed? The Brownstone was not only a locally recognized restaurant, it was an establishment that had a great reputation well outside of Ohio, being a main draw for several business-types that I encountered during my visits there.
I think it would be in the city’s best interest as a “diverse” city to bring the right players to the table to find a way to bring Brownstone back. Certainly, the administration can make things happen when it wants to. Need I point to the Arena District, Gay Street… Oh, wait, those are white-owned business there. Right.
let me start by saying – i know NOTHING of this place. So there are 2 facts that stick out to me.
1. M.C. Mayor, a major patron and proponent of the establishment.
2. a defaulted quarter million dollar loan from the city.
if a business can’t successfully spin those assets into a sustainable business, I find it hard to buy the argument that someone other than management is to blame for their demise.
Can you color this with a finer point for me? am I missing something?
I fail to understand why the color of the owners matters. A good business is a good business. One that is not run well is not going to survive.
I feel that articles (and posts, for that matter) like this only serve to divide, not unify. That won’t be to anyone’s benefit.
I feel that articles (and posts, for that matter) like this only serve to divide, not unify. That won’t be to anyone’s benefit.
+1
All good local businesses downtown need to be supported.
[quote="L.I. to Buckeye"]I fail to understand why the color of the owners matters. A good business is a good business. quote]
In a city that is trying to be diverse, having a minority-owned business, not in a black neighborhood, but downtown, where it’s hard in the first place for business to survive, is very important.
I think its important to stay away from the subject of loans, finances, etc because none of us know the full story concerning that issue. There’s nothing anywhere that I’ve ever seen that brings up the subject of a defaulted loan except from those outside of the situation.
Oh, and let me just say one more thing about mayoral support. There were a few articles in the Other Paper concerning the Mayor’s patronage of the Brownstone. Funny enough, I talked to others who had been to Brownstone several times and also some who would call themselves “regulars” and I don’t think I heard about the Mayor being at Brownstone any more than 2-3 times over the course of the two years I’d been going. So, I don’t think anyone should think that the Mayor was doing big business there as has been suggested.
It was nice to see that small stretch of Gay Street developed so the business there could benefit from the easier foot traffic, etc. It’s sad to see the one stretch of downtown that is home to several minority-owned businesses being constantly ignored.
I’d love to see Main Street get the same makeover treatment as Gay Street.
This is a ridiculous post.
Are we supposed to go out and eat somewhere because the owners happen to be black? Where was the uproar when the Russian owners closed down the Cajun place on W. Broad? How about the Chinese place that the health department shut down?
Please.
I make my decisions on where to eat based on things like location, quality, and price. My wife and I never look at each other and say, “Hey, let’s go to that new place that just opened up because the owner is black.”
I think its important to stay away from the subject of loans, finances, etc because none of us know the full story concerning that issue. There’s nothing anywhere that I’ve ever seen that brings up the subject of a defaulted loan except from those outside of the situation.
I’d like to be sympathetic to your point of view, but I honestly don’t get it. I know the owners of the Brownstone ran a good restaurant, but did they run the business end of things properly? If not, then I really can’t get too worked up about it. In my mind, that is THE issue, and not something to be ignored.
Unless the Brownstone owners were the victims of some grevious injustice, it seems like your energy is best invested in finding someone new to run the place or something similar. No doubt the diversity of the area is important, but the best you can make out of this situation is to say that the Brownstone’s closing will give an opportunity to someone else who is truly capable of doing it correctly.
I was never a regular patron of the Brownstone, but the few times I did visit I would always see folks from City government/ politics there…so I don’t think you can say that there was a lack of support from the leadership in our town.
It was a nice place and I’m sorry to see them go. I hope someone else takes over the business soon. The rathskellar (sp?) basement is a great space – I’d hate to see it sit empty for too long.
The brownstone didn’t close because it was a black restaurant. The brownstone closed because it was a restaurant run by unethical novices. Just ask the employees who found out about the “remodeling” the day they closed and never got paid for their last two weeks of work. Just ask the investors who were duped into giving more money to the brownstone on top of the aformentioned $250,000 loaned by the government. Why should we feel sorry for the owners of an establishment who had the benefit of starting up a business with perks that your average joe wouldn’t have. It is of public record that they haven’t paid property, sales or payroll taxes in some time, another nail in the coffin. And lets be honest, the food wasn’t consistent, the menu didn’t change in three years and the service wasn’t exactly top notch. All things that will hurt any restaurant in the most developed neighborhood. It seems like they made bad decision after bad decision. Like remodeling five hardly used floors of a building in which they are barely filling up the first floor. Or spending money to build a patio when they have NEVER spent any money on marketing or advertising. The honest and hard truth is that it wasn’t run well and as a result has closed.
Also see:
http://www.columbuspost.com/news/headlines315.html
I’m not getting the Brownstone love on its food: I went twice and found it absolutely atrocious.
Notwithstanding…I am in agreement with the idea that we must support any business due to the ethnicity of its owners.
It’s what I call “racism”.
How would our thread starter feel about a discussion where whitey said “I’m gonna go to that thar restaurant cuz the owner’s white”?
There is no such thing as “reverse racism”…just racism.
I make my decisions on where to eat based on things like location, quality, and price. My wife and I never look at each other and say, “Hey, let’s go to that new place that just opened up because the owner is black.”
No, but there are some people –and I’m not saying you or your wife –who are less likely to patronize a place with a black owner.
A point that I think people often fail to realize is that diversity is difficult. It’s not something that happens by default. You you want to create a diverse environment of any type –including a business environment, it takes hard work and conscious decisions.
Well, keeping in mind that the original article seemed aimed largely at a black audience, I would encourage you to view this more by analogy to a “buy local” argument. Why buy from “skreened” rather than “cafe press”? Why patronize North Market rather than Whole Foods, or the local mom-and-pop rather than WalMart? Because of the connection to a community of which you are a part.
The problem with a “buy white” message is that it’s analogous to a “buy WalMart” commercial –there’s nothing progressive about it.
NOTE: Above has been edited to respond to responses. Please see also the spin-off thread.
That would seem to be an awfully controversial statement.
South Park – Race War!
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