Yelp is calling out racist businesses
As an Elite member of Yelp, this is applaud-worthy
MAGA supporters are beside themselves in the comment section of Yelp’s latest tweets. Threats of lawsuits, pulling the race card, uninstalling the mobile app and deleting one’s account are just a few ways that they’re fighting back — against not letting businesses be racist. Sheesh! The audacity! Why can’t this review site that is fully intended to share customer reviews just let businesses be racist and racial profile all day long? It makes them feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The damn politically correct crowds are out of hand, amiright?
Now that you’ve wiped the sarcasm dripping onto your keyboard, let’s continue. On Oct. 8, Yelp tweeted, “Today, we’re announcing a new consumer alert to stand against racism. In the last few months, we’ve seen that there is a clear need to warn consumers about businesses associated with egregious, racially-charged actions to help people make more informed spending decisions.”
Merriam Webster defines “racism” as “a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.” While there are a distinct group of people (usually people of color) who have very strong opinions that minority groups “cannot be racist,” I’m not one of those people.
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As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a percentage from purchases with my referral links. I know some consumers are choosing to boycott Amazon for its DEI removal. However, after thinking about this thoroughly, I want to continue promoting cool products from small businesses, women-owned businesses and (specifically) Black-owned businesses who still feature their items on Amazon. As of the first date of Black History Month 2025, each new post will ALWAYS include a MINIMUM of one product sold by a Black-owned business. (I have visited the seller’s official site to verify that Amazon Black-owned logo.) I am (slowly) doing this with older, popular posts too. If you still choose to boycott, I 100% respect that decision.
(I understand the argument though.) My bigger issue is if Yelp’s goal is to point out discrimination based on race in any store or business, and a member immediately wants to wipe the program off his/her phone, that pretty much tells you what their state of mind is. At no point did the platform state, “egregious, racially-charged actions to [insert minority group here].” This is a free-for-all where everyone can weigh in.
It’s also a peculiar reason to be outraged, considering Elite Yelp members like me have been calling out racism, racial profiling and horrendous store experiences for years. If anything, Yelp is late to my review party because I’ve been warning people of everything from property managers to banks to retail stores to contractors.