Comments

1
FUCK the church. With all the tax breaks churches get they should offer their parking lot to Uncle Ike's customers anytime Uncle Ike's is open for business.
2
poor poor Christians.

that church, African American or not, doesn't even deserve the bone of a later opening time (and noon means the congregation will walk out of the 11 am service into the maelstrom of ike's customers parking in their parking lot and standing happily in line).

ike's pays taxes. a church doesn't. all they produce is hot air.
3
yo kids, are we down to valuing things (like social institutions) because of the revenue they produce? sounds like you guys are economic neoliberals.

i got my own reasons to dislike churches and organized religions, but you all need to tone down that "47%" shit and get it together.
4
What a generous, thoughtful and futile attempt to win over a group of people who can't be reasoned with there is no reason in faith.
5
@3: are you new here? I mean, like, new in America?

churches are the one "social institution" that the rich like. opiate of the masses - gotta make sure they can continue to operate.
6
Weird tone deafness on this issue from y'all. The law states shops can't be less than 1000 feet away from schools, playgrounds, and even public transit centers. But a black church, a-ok. Given all the articles in the Stranger critical of gentrification of the Central District, strange that since this is a church, in other words a vital civic and cultural institution to the local congregants, it's just a big "fuck you".
7
"I’m tired of being disrespected."

Ahhh, there we go. Finally, the truth.

Spoken like a true narcissist.
9
@8:

LOOK, THERE! EVIL PURE AND SIMPLE!
10
@5: Yes, the 1 percenters are just flocking to that African American church in the Central District.

If you're going to write off all religious people you're writing off a huge percentage of minority and poor people in this country. But maybe you're OK with that.
12
@6:

Talk about tone-deafness. If the law specifically cites locations must be X feet from Y & Z institutions, and churches are not included on that list, then there's no violation, is there?
And FWIW people in this neighborhood have been complaining about "gentrification" ever since the first Duwamish walking between what we now call Elliott Bay and Lake Washington was confronted by a hostile white settler and accused of trespassing on "their" property. Change happens; it's inevitable. The only thing we have control over is the pace and scale of the change.
13
@11:

LOOK, THERE! EVIL PURE AND SIMPLE!
14
@10: I didn't "write off" the poor and minorities. i'm responding to @3's assertion that I am focused exclusively on their tax-exempt status, and not their delicate-flower status.

the "47%" comment, which directly referenced Mitt Romney (and thereby the Mormon church, a tax-exempt "social institution" of bizarre theology, demonstrable misogyny, immense wealth and malign influence) was particularly galling. big religion is all too happy to extend the tax-exempt franchise to the small fry like this congregation and their property if that's the price to keep their power.

or perhaps you take exception to "opiate of the masses"? in that case, take it up with Marx.
15
@14 by lumping a small, minority church in with the Mormons, you just wrote them off, explicitly so.
16
Further, by making this purely about taxes and churches, you completely ignore far more relevant factors like class, race, and marginalization.
17
@ 9/13, I can't look because they're censoring the poor fella. His existence is an American gulag and Slog's moderators are the guards.
18
@5 Which institution do you think the rentier class benefits more from, a black church or a weed store? Which is going to facilitate a faster rise in property values?

It's totally asinine to take this abstract opposition to organized religion and apply it to this very specific context. It's particularly ironic that you are quoting Marx, while ignoring the Marxist analysis of this situation that it isn't about religion or weed, it's about capital subsuming a new neighborhood, with support from the state (in the form of the silly pot zoning laws).

I find it really depressing how little sympathy liberals have for long-time residents of the CD regarding this whole Uncle Ike's thing, based on these misanthropic technocratic ideals, "Oh, weed is safer than alcohol so they should protest the liquor store!," "Religion is irrational!" etc. etc.
19
@17:

I guess I just had the unfortunate timing to see them before they were killfiled.
20
@18:

But you're making the assumption that many "long-time residents" (BTW, how long does one have to have lived here to fit your definition?), aside from the parishioners of Mt. Calvary, which I can assure you is a far greater number, are equally opposed to Uncle Ike's? I can only speak from an anecdotal perspective, but I note quite a few patrons WALK to Ike's, which would lead one to the reasonable conclusion they LIVE in the vicinity. and I think it's also reasonable to surmise they all didn't just move here in the last few months, either.
21
@18: “I’m against what it means for our kids, for our institution, and for our community, for it to be here. This is a way in which capitalism has resulted in an unfair disrespect to an institution. I’m tired of being disrespected.”

sounds an abstract opposition to capitalism applied to this specific context. and their specific objection is based on their religious morality, which was rejected as a basis for regulating intoxicants at the end of prohibition. so yes, the non-focus on the nearby liquor store. and the dropped lawsuit.

you seriously think that uncle ike's prefers this location over someplace on say, broadway? the silly pot zoning laws pushed them to this location. like it pushed the other stores into SODO, where no one lives and everyone has to drive to.
22
I can't believe people are trying to claim that a weed store is a sign of gentrification.
23
If this was the pot store demanding that the church be shut down because they don't like what goes on inside, then I'd see your point. But it isn't. It's the church demanding that the pot store be closed. The church is the bad neighbor, not the pot store. It has nothing to do with taxes or respect for institutions or race or class. Community means getting along with your neighbors even if you disagree with them.
24
I tend to agree with all of the anti-church sentiment, and Ike's could easily and justifiably go to the mat on this issue if they wanted.

But they are extending the proverbial olive branch. Taking the "high road" if you will. And really Sunday mornings? It will probably cost them zero business. And make the church look like a bunch of dicks if they keep pressing the issue. I say kudos to Uncle Ike's for being neighborly, even if the church's fears/demands are ridiculous.
25
UNCLE IKES NEED TO ACCEPT DEBIT CARDS! WHO CARRIES CASH? FUCK!
26
Ike's needs to support the neighborhood, and this "olive branch" is a good start. I think many in this conversation are downplaying the history of this part of town as a Black neighborhood and the tensions between the police and Black families. I'd be mad too if I were the church and had a new pot and a "goods" store next door with lights shining brightly and lines of white people out the door when neighbors had been harassed and arrested on that corner for decades.
27
@26, so it would be better if people were still being arrested there? I mean, this is what they WANT -- one of the main excuses for police harassment is now gone.

@25, tell it to the Feds. Pot is still a Schedule 1 narcotic to the Feds, same as heroin, which means NO BANKS, because of the FDIC, which means no debit cards, credit cards, or personal checks.
28
#27 - no, it's good that people aren't being arrested there. And it's good, no, it's *great* that pot's legal. But the history of Blacks being arrested there for so long isn't erased when laws change. It's clear that there are hard feelings, and people unhappy with the siting of the shop could be approached with more understanding.
29
Isn't Olive Branch a hybrid?
30
Commerce is what allows the churches their free ride. If they don't like it, they should start paying taxes. Until then, their opinion means nothing.
31
@25: as fnarf notes, the problem isn't Uncle Ike's, it's that the feds in all their wondrous stupidity still classify cannabis as a schedule 1 drug (saying it has the same abuse potential as heroin and less potential than benzodiazepines).

For those that are concerned about this, now is the time to let your congresscritters know you want them to support the bill just introduced by Sens. Booker, Gillibrand, and Paul to reschedule cannabis (should be lower than 2, but whatever).

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news…

"Paul said the bill would give marijuana businesses access to traditional banking services. A few credit unions have provided limited services to the marijuana industry, but some business owners have paid their taxes in cash, which they say is a security risk. In fact, the Washington Liquor Control Board had to retrofit its agency headquarters and build a secure cash room to protect its cash haul."
32
They actually referenced the previous "Ike's is gentrification." line for a second article? It was so laughable the first time it made poor Kathleen look like a freshman HS Creative Writing student.
Please let her idiocy die instead of raking her over the coals. Repeating something this false just belittles everyone involved.
33
If Ike donated say 1-3% of net receipts to the church, I suspect this protest would go away for good.
34
Could be the a race thing... this is a black church and it was ok when a pretty obnoxious scene was unfolding for years before with the Thompson Point of View crowds which were exclusively black... Seattle will always remain divided among the old timers, it was never very diverse here, until recently... Cities in the south had more diversity than a good old liberal but super segregated seattle... it was either black or white establishments for decades until the recent rush of newcomers finally mixed it up to match the other big cities... and so this old black establishments is holding on to its turf, because in fact this was an area where the African american (not African) identity was established in between 50's and 90's... but not white, asian, hispanic, gay and everyone in between as is the clientele of Uncle Ike's today... This diversity of people was not possible at this corner for decades... plus on top of it, it's a pot store... oh lordy lord. Black church was never really big on liberal issues and was never diversed, so here it is... they gonna fight it... it's a generational thing...
35
It could be a religious thing. It could be a generational thing. But the square blocks around this corner aren't all African-American owned. Caucasians have owned property there for decades, as part of the community. While I've never visited Ike's, those I know who have and the pictures I've seen of the inside have spoken to a predominantly African-American employee base.

This being a race thing just doesn't pass the smell test.
36
Problem: Christian church dislikes their neighbor.
Hypothetical Solution: Turn the other cheek.
Hypothetical Result: Loving their neighbor.

That's my theory, at least.
37
It's not a "race thing", it's a religion thing trying to make it a race thing to rally people to their side.
38
WWJD?
39
Offering to not open until noon on Sunday, when they used to open at ten? Ike's is just reducing payroll costs while not losing *any* business during those hours. Nice spin job, though.
40
@25- "who carries cash?"

People who want to buy drugs.

@38- "WWJD?" Given his track record I'd say he'd make sure the bong on the end table was always packed no matter how many times someone hit it.
41
Witherspoon, yeah, it's not your fight. Concentrate your energy on stuff that matters. Like defeating Satan.
42
@39:

That's a patently stupid assumption. Ike's is making money quite literally hand-over-fist, so reducing labor overhead by a whopping 16 man-hours per week (based on an eight person headcount - 5 in the dispensary plus one security, and two in the head shop ) is hardly going to make much difference either positive or negative

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