Cut Loose, Footloose

Evidently the property manager of a small mall in a small mill town in NC takes offense to dancing. It has nothing to do with the fact that the offensive dancer is an African-American man with long dreads and colorful clothing. No, of course not. Instead the offense is purely guided by the property manager's duty and desire to protect customers of his mall and perhaps out of philosophical reasons regarding private commercial property and the necessity for drawing that line in the sand.

Background:
Weaver Street Market(WSM) is a community based grocery store that specializes in organic and natural foods. It is an employer of many people in the community, sells locally grown produce and products, and gives back to local charities. WSM is a tenant of the Mall-which incidentally is not what one would conjure up as an image of a mall. There is no Bloomingdales or The Gap or Orange Julius in this mall. Basically it used to be a textile mill that has been restored and remodeled into a "mall.' The tenants ot the mall are local owned businesses, for example, a pretzel stand, a bead shop, a fabric store, a used book store, a jewelry store, a cool toy store, etc. There are some offices in the mall too. It is actually a very unique place.

Well, WSM has an outdoor dining area that is positioned next to an open grass area that is also owned by the Mall. WSM sponsors a lot of events that attract customers that utilize the lawn. There has been music performances, sand castle artistry, and wine tastings that encourage people to bring their lawn chairs and blankets and congregate on the lawn. And if there is music playing, there may also be dancing and hula hooping on the lawn. It has been this way for about as long as I have lived in the area-12 years or so.

The Problem:
Bruce is an African-American man who I have seen many times dancing on the lawn of WSM. Now I have been to tons of Grateful Dead shows so the sight of his dancing was near and dear to my heart and it obviously did not impact on my business dealings at this mall. But for some reason his dancing offended the Mall's manager who banned Bruce from dancing on the lawn. His rationale was that the property is to be used for customers only and Bruce may not always be patronizing WSM when he dances on the lawn. Mind you, he is a regular customer of WSM and their position has been extremely supportive of the dancing.

The Controversy:
Anyway, this dancing ban has of course sparked great controversy in this small mill town who is known for progressive politics and an artsy open-minded popluation. This town offers small business loans to open bars and same sex marriage benefits to town employees (AGHAST!). The issue at hand is that there has been some problems in the area with panhandlers, vagrants, and criminal activity. You know those inconveniences you feel when you are faced with the destitution of undesireables. So the aim of this new No Dancing policy is that it will protect the customers from these undesireables. As one commenter offered, you have to draw the line somewhere and thus by pure logic we start targeting innocent and harmless dancers instead of actually tacking the real issue-if that indeed is the true issue behind this. The other beef is that one is automatically lumping the dancers in with the "problems" they are trying to address-which is absolutely crazy! The discussion surrounding this has also centered on property rights-private vs. commercial. With some clearly believing that the Mall manager is well with in his rights to ban whoever he sees fit from the property. And with others feeling that commerical property is for public use. The real meat of the issue also touches on race-as the catalyst for this was an eccentric looking African American man.

The Solution:
It seems quite evident to me that the best solution would be to allow dancing to continue. WSM attracts many patrons to the area and provides a unique and interesting place for people to congregate. Part of the charm of the place is the clientele that frequents the events and makes life more visually interesting. But we're treading in political waters and what this really represents is the divide that many feel in this country. Whether the mall manager is motivated by racial prejudice or just prejudice of one that does not fit into the mold, it does seem suspect that this new policy is being instituted and enforced. The arguments I have heard in support of the mall manager are merely neo-con rhetoric that is conveniently being used to further an agenda. Some have called for a ban of the tenants of the mall to show the power of the patrons, but this would only hurt the small business owner who probably already struggle with high rents and insenstive property management. The latest information is that they may allow the dancing during sponsored events-so hopefully this can be resolved satisfactorily for all involved. I'm trying real hard to see the other side of this coin-but I'm having a hard time seeing past the supposed reasons for this policy.

Check out orangepolitics.org for more of the controversy.