Chubby Chicks Café and the Irony of Structural Racism in Philadelphia
Chubby Chicks Café and the Irony of Structural Racism in Philadelphia
© Ogbonna Paul Hagins for Philly Word Magazine and Freedmen’s Journal 2.0
Recently, Chubby Chicks Café, owned by an American Freedwoman, became a focal point of public attention after accusations of structural racism emerged.
The café, located in the predominantly white area near 11th and Walnut, is the latest in a series of businesses facing hurdles rooted in systemic racism.
But the real irony isn’t just in the racism faced by this business—it’s in the reaction of the very city that claims to fight for equality, yet does nothing to address the deeper issues that keep American Freedmen communities trapped.
City Council members rushed to support the café’s owner, offering condolences and support. But here’s the catch: these same officials have been aware of the structural racism that impacts American Freedmen communities for over two decades.
In 2001, the Brookings Institution published a study revealing that owner-occupied homes in American Freedmen neighborhoods are undervalued by $48,000 per home on average, amounting to $156 billion in cumulative losses.
Yet, despite the evidence, the city has done nothing to protect American Freedmen businesses from the same kind of economic exploitation that Chubby Chicks Café faced. Instead of pushing for policy to ensure that businesses like hers thrive in their own communities, these politicians are just playing the reactionary game.
This is where the hypocrisy is most glaring. The same elected officials who rush to support this one business haven’t done a single thing to combat the systemic forces that push American Freedmen out of their own neighborhoods, often in favor of white businesses that drive gentrification.
The city has been complicit in this process—knowingly allowing American Freedmen’s home values to be undermined, leading to displacement and the stifling of local entrepreneurship. All the while, these communities are gentrified under the guise of “progress” when it’s really a systematic wealth grab.
The truth is that what we’re witnessing is not just racism—it’s the continuation of badges of slavery. The very forces that oppressed our ancestors are still alive today, subtly but powerfully shaping the economic and social landscape. From the devaluation of property in historically American Freedmen neighborhoods to the lack of systemic support for American Freedmen businesses,
the same structures that were designed to keep Freedmen from building wealth and thriving continue to have a stranglehold on our communities. These aren’t just remnants of a dark past; they are active mechanisms of exclusion.
Worse yet, public figures like morning show host Solomon Jones, who interviewed the owner about the structural racism issue at the café, were also given the Structural Racism Bill by the president of the Philadelphia Reparations Coalition,
Obonna Hagins, over a year ago. This bill, which directly addresses the systemic issues American Freedmen face, has gone entirely unmentioned by Jones or any of the other so-called advocates for justice.
How can they claim to care about structural racism in one situation while ignoring an entire community’s legitimate grievances? The answer is simple: they’re more comfortable pointing to a single incident than tackling the root causes of inequality.
Now, here’s another question: Since City Council members are so eager to give shout-outs from the floor to Chubby Chicks Café, what about the countless other American Freedmen businesses that are struggling just to survive?
Why aren’t they getting the same recognition and support? Shouldn’t the City Council be lifting up all businesses that need help, not just the ones that make headlines because of racial incidents?
It seems like the floor of City Council is reserved for reactionary support, but not for real, sustained efforts to fix the systemic issues. If they truly care about supporting local businesses, they should be advocating for policies that allow all American Freedmen businesses to thrive—not just the ones that are in the spotlight.
It’s time to ask the real question: why are these politicians so quick to react to a business issue but slow to create the changes needed to ensure that businesses like Chubby Chicks Café can thrive in the first place? When will they realize that their inaction on the broader issue of structural racism harms American Freedmen far more than any isolated incident ever could?
The city’s failure to create policies that protect and nurture American Freedmen’s economic ecosystems is proof that they have no intention of addressing the real, systemic issues that have persisted for centuries. So yes, it’s time to ask again:
when will we understand that the fight our ancestors fought for wasn’t just about eating in white restaurants—it was about having the freedom to build, thrive, and survive on our own terms, within our own communities? These are the badges of slavery, and they continue to define the limitations placed on us.
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