Oxford weighs in on diversity comment

When Oxford Mayor Pat Patterson made the comment that dollar stores would bring a "different demographic" to the elite Oxford Square, some residents characterized it Wednesday as badly worded but fairly benign.

On Tuesday afternoon, Patterson clarified what he meant in a NewsWatch 99 television report in which he said, "It's a market-driven thing. If there were Dollar Generals and Family Dollars out there, you'd have a different demographic."

Patterson said that if the Square offered more affordable stores, it would be more diverse.

"I think if we have a more diverse retail market, we'd have more diversity here. That's what I meant," Patterson said. "I think it has to do with the market. The rent's so high, it attracts the restaurants, (and) the bars. The merchants have been here for decades."

Councilman Jay Hughes said he thinks Patterson could have chosen different words but that the thought was sound.

"I understand the message he intended to convey. I believe that it's not a matter of racial diversity on the Square; it's a matter of economic diversity he was talking about," Hughes said. "It's difficult for many to shop on the Square, but it's free market and capitalism on the Square."

City Grocery owner John Currence said he agrees that the high real estate value on the Square means the businesses have to charge higher prices, which brings in an affluent clientele.

"We have overhead to meet and city taxes and county taxes, and everything gets more expensive and that makes it more difficult," Currence said. "You can't just slap up a 75 cent hot dog stand and make a profit."

Ole Miss African-American studies chairman Charles Ross told student-run NewsWatch 99 that he believes the issue is socioeconomic.

"I think that many of the individuals (visiting downtown Oxford) are at a very high level, socioeconomically, and I don't know if there's enough African Americans in that kind of middle class who feel comfortable enough to want to come to the Square," Ross said.

Hughes said the stores that thrive on the Square do so because they have a clientele that is willing to pay top dollar for goods and services.

"The stores that have survived are the ones that are able to do it are based on the consumers that shop there," he said. "We have economic and socioeconomic and market-driven forces in place on the Square, not those based on diversity or skin tone color or national origin."

S&J Art Gallery owner John Adams echoed Patterson's sentiments, saying it's about the economics of the downtown area. The sole black-owned business in the Square has called downtown Oxford home for 20 years.

"It all depends on the atmosphere you're looking to enjoy," Adams said. "What I see, it's not a lot of blacks that come into my store. I hear that businesses are too high (in cost), including my store."

Adams said Oxford Square offers a diverse selection of stores for locals, students and tourists, regardless of ethnicity.

"We'd love to see more blacks come and buy (downtown)," Adams said. "You can set a Dollar Tree in the middle of the Square, but it's not going to change the diversity. People will come downtown regardless. I has nothing to do with color; it's their choice."

Patterson said he shops at the discount stores he mentioned in the news segment and the Square just doesn't attract those kind of merchants.

In the last two decades, several businesses have sold their property on the Square because of the resale value of the real estate, Currence said.

"A lot of those went by the wayside or they expanded inventory and needed more space or they were squeezed out because it became too silly to try to hang on when they could sell their building for a tremendous amount of money and go somewhere that suits their needs," he said.

The report by the newscast pointed out that 20 percent of Oxford's population is black, while 70 percent is white. The students set up a camera on the Square for two hours and counted one black person among every 10.

They contended that those numbers indicated a lack of racial diversity.

Hughes pointed out that simply knowing the context of the numbers would have helped determine if the study was accurate.

"I will tell you right now driving through the Square, I'm stopped, and there are four minorities waiting to cross and two white people," he said. "You have to look at the underlying basis of the study, at when, and where, and how. One of my favorite sayings is, 'There's lies, there's damned lies, and then there are statistics.' "

To contact Terricha Bradley-Phillips, call (601) 961-7067. To contact Therese Apel, call (601) 961-7236.