Should black people focus on buying their necessities from black-owned businesses only? Maggie Anderson says they should.

During 2008 with the economy in the midst of the worst ever downturn since the 1930s, Ms. Anderson entered her husband and two of her daughters in a yearlong plan to use goods and services from black-owned business corporations only.

The journey quickly became the basis of her 2012 book entitled 'Our Black Year' which also has been the subject of TED talks regarding methods of improving revenue in African-American communities. Black people purchase cash from  businesses owned by black people as compared to other ethnic and racial groups spend in businesses dominated by people of their particular races such as Hispanic and Asians. 

A report by Neilsen and Essence claims that the purchasing power of black people community will reach $1.3 Trillion in upcoming years as revealed by New York Times. Unless black people put more focus in increasing their property inside the black community, Ms.Anderson and some other specialists believe, they will always be outdated. 

Speaking on the topic, Ms. Anderson expressed, "When I think back on that year, driving was the least of it. It was heartbreaking taking in how the Westside and the Southside used to have so many business owners and now most of those businesses are owned by outsiders," reports New York City Today.

Ms. Anderson's idea gained criticisms saying that she is being racial by not buying goods from businesses not owned by blacks.  They also advised her of the same decision that other racial and ethnic groups could hurt black-owned businesses. 

For African-American communities, black people's assistance for businesses owned by black people would be crucial for their own endurance, said Veranda Dickens, Chairwoman of Seaway Bank, based in Chicago. It was launched back in 1965 and stands as the third largest black-owned bank in the country now.

Ms. Anderson revealed that she was working on developing Maggie's list. It's an online guide which will help clients to find black-owned businesses, she hopes the service will be up and running in six to eight coming months.

On the other hand, American Thinker writes about NYT with its effort for boycotting white businesses. It opposes NYT's statement by saying that black people shouldn't read New York Times because it isn't owned by black people. 

The results from a study state that prejudice was normally noted in those markets where black and white people were geographically isolated from one another. Black sellers were offered with less money and lower trust was shown on them by the respondents.