City zoning debate: the role of liquor licenses in perpetuating systemic inequalities
Richie Crowley, on Medium, argues that flooding certain communities with high densities of alcohol outlets (take a guess which one's in SJ*) leads to economic/social disparities and unequal results.
Lurking behind underfunded education, peering through rows of income inequality and over-policing, is alcohol.
Before a community can have a high density of alcohol outlets, those seeking liquor licenses must be awarded them from their state or local municipality, most commonly some sort of Alcohol Beverage Control board.
Communities with high densities of alcohol outlets are the result of permissive decisions made by state or municipal officials. Decisions made by state or municipal officials are decisions of the system.
The decision to populate certain communities with high densities of alcohol outlets is a systemic decision.
These outlets are not your neighborhood Saturday lemonade stand, they dangerously encourage escapism and distribute oppression, not $.25 cups of poorly stirred Countrytime.
Alcohol licenses are sought after because of the high-profit margins of alcohol. As a culture, the dangers of alcohol have continued to be silenced at the interest of income.
Beyond the dangers that an individual invites onto themselves by consuming alcohol, the menu of harmful outcomes related to alcohol includes community oppression.
Greater demand for alcohol leads to the opening of a greater number of alcohol outlets. These outlets will cluster where consumer activity is greatest, and the number of outlets will proliferate until the demand is met. Economics 101, supply and demand.
But, one can’t be fooled into thinking it’s that clear.
Alcohol is a money-maker, so surely owners of alcohol outlets will aim to maximize profits by locating their outlet in areas where rent is low.
It’s true. Greater numbers of outlets will tend to open in areas where rents are low, resulting in higher concentrations of outlets in low-income areas, exposing the nearby populations to the risks associated with these drinking places.
Low-income isn’t a segregating classification, but Blacks do face higher densities of liquor stores than do Whites. A 2000 analysis found that liquor stores are disproportionately located in predominantly Black census tracts.
This is where alcohol becomes a tool of oppression.
The over-concentration of alcohol outlets exposes Black communities to all the negative consequences of alcohol. There are significant and substantive relationships between outlet densities, alcohol-related traffic crashes, violence, and crime.
A systemic tool of oppression.
The decision to award liquor licenses to an outlet that will locate itself in a low-income community to meet demand and maximize profits is an intentional act controlled by state and local institutions. When that alcohol outlet is known to increase harm to the community and it still created, that is informed oppression. When the only method of obtaining this license is through a state-controlled board it becomes systemic oppression.
The location of an alcohol outlet is only the beginning
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* East San Jose has the highest density of liquor stores in the city.
Read the whole thing here.
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