Shakespeare famously asked, “What’s in a name,” but the issue here could easily center on what’s in the store.
The Fort Worth Tarrant County Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference evidently takes umbrage to a convenience store called Da Hood Food Mart, which operates in east Fort Worth.
The fact that the store sells or applied to sell adult beverages doesn’t help its case in the eyes of conference leadership and some community leaders who oppose its Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission permit.
It seems to be all about a neighborhood’s self-esteem.
"The name is insulting to our African-American heritage and the over-saturation of these types of establishments within the economically disadvantaged communities is simply a continuation of the exploitation of the poor,” the Rev. Kyev Tatum, president of the SCLC, said in a press release.
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Interestingly, the city of Fort Worth’s list of certificates of occupancy issued June 26-July 3, in fact on the same date, June 28, lists a business called Da Big EZ Barbershop directly below Da Hood’s entry.
The barbershop also operates east of Interstate 35 but, yes, about a rather circuitous 15 miles north. Still, any hue and cry over the barbershop’s name?
Is the name on the store the problem or the product in the store?
Bruce Felps owns and operates East Dallas Times, an online community news outlet serving the White Rock Lake area. He’d shop at a store called Da Hood, particularly to buy beer.
