The Many Faces of #BlackFriday

Posted on by Michael Summergrad

Now more than ever, as soon as we take the last bite of that pumpkin pie at the Thanksgiving table, the Christmas season is upon us and that means one thing, shopping.  The phenomena of Black Friday has truly gotten to a whole new level, especially with the introduction of Cyber Monday.

Black Friday, for retailers, is one of the most important days of the year since it kicks of the holiday season and the drive to go out and get items as soon as possible.  For the consumer, this does not always mean fun and games.

But as one Washington post reporter is quick to point out, this scene is not really the case in very many stores.

Another big concern with Black Friday is the racist connotations the name, leading to many influencers using the day to spread a difference message that racism in this country still exists.

The biggest showing fighting against racism occurred in Chicago where protests occurred on the busiest shopping street in the city, Michigan Avenue, leading to stores losing up to 50% of projected sales during that time.

According to reports this year, sales in brick and mortar were down a lot compared to online, it will be interesting to watch this trend into the future.

3 thoughts on “The Many Faces of #BlackFriday”

  1. To be honest, this is a phenomenon that I have experienced just twice, and still have no idea how does it make sense. I have not faced any ‘violence’ so far, but I don’t understand the point of keeping stores open from 12 am till 10 pm. It is inhuman – on the storekeepers and the shoppers. Further, there are stores which open up at 6pm on the day of Thanksgiving and stay on till 10pm the next day. There have been many tweets throughout the week encouraging people to rather do something outdoor, have fun with family and friends, instead of worrying about getting to the stores in times for the best offers.

    Theoretically speaking, make the Friday shopping at more sensible times and thereby do away with the term ‘Black Friday’ and therefore eliminate the racist connotation involved.

    Furthermore what impacted me was how this ‘melting pot’ has largely ignored the impact that Thanksgiving followed by Black Friday can have on its people. Particularly when a certain section of the population observe the National Day of Mourning on Thanksgiving. Each to his own. Enough said.

  2. Mike,

    This title fits your article body perfectly. Black Friday is really much deeper than what the businesses make it out to be. It seems like since I got older Black Friday has been trying to come sooner and sooner. Now it really isn’t Black “Friday” anymore, cause many of the big retail stores, open the night of Thanksgiving. Which really shows how corporate America and big businesses are trying to pull us away from our families and into the stores.

    Even though there are many deals that seem tempting Black Friday is taking away from the economy, and allowing it to only go to a select few. Even though there is Small Business Saturday, many of consumers shopping gets done during This Black Friday period and through other big sales that these large retailers have.

    The racial piece to this is definitely essential, and I feel like it goes overlooked a lot. The violence and racism of Black Friday is rooted deep, and speaks volumes of the nature of the capitalist system. I understand that people say the black is reference given stores when they go into the black after they sell so much merchandise, but its much deeper and the name should change.

    Great Post

  3. Howdy! Enjoyed the piece! I share the same sentiments and its great to finally see them in front of me. I personally have never experienced going out on Black Friday because it always felt that the ‘chaos’ was a bit too much. But what I am really taking away is the fact I have never viewed the name ‘Black Friday” as a parallel to racism within country.

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