Chaldeans control 90% of the grocery stores in Detroit. 40% of the truck drivers in California are Sikh, and about a third of US Sikhs are truck drivers. About 95% of the Dunkin’ Donuts stores in Chicago and the Midwest are owned by Indians, mostly Gujarati Patels. In New England and New York, 60% of Dunkin’ Donuts stores are operated by Portuguese immigrants. 90% of the liquor stores in Baltimore are owned by Koreans. I am not the first, the tenth, or even the hundredth person to notice this. From a 1999 New York Times article titled ‘A Patel Motel Cartel?’
Non-Linear Ethnic Niches by Arcotherium at Aporia. Surprisingly in general, though on-brand for Aporia, it is an argument for reduced immigration.
2 comments:
Probably a few years before that article, I had summer gig in a resort area and invited a friend to come stay with me for a few days. He invited a friend, and she invited some friends, and thus I was (pre-internet) calling all the local lower-tier hotels to see who had room – because I didn't have space or permission to have 8 guests in my lodging.
I got suspicious when I spoke to the 2nd Mr. Patel with exactly the same tone and accent, but when I got the third Mr Patel I politely expressed my disbelief that I wasn't talking to the same person again.
Mr.-Patel-number-three explained that he was no relation to the other 7 Mr. Patels who owned hotels in the county, but that in his ethnic community hotel ownership was widely viewed as a rock-steady safe career choice, what with 'Langar' being a pillar of Sikhism, and thus a natural affinity.
"Ethnic Niche" or ethnic nepotism, or just outright discrimination, as found so often in IT?
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