I do my best to search out merchandise that I'm in need of that's been made in America. I think it matters, even if my own personal expenditures fall far short of the threshold necessary to significantly impact the U.S. GDP. I know that's shocking. I buy locally made goods for the same reason. But when you're on a cross country road trip, buying locally is not an option. If, however, you're looking for a place to pull in and get some rest after a long day behind the wheel, there are countless motels these days that make it easy for the consumer to "choose the American brand."
When does a pitch to "buy American" step over the line and cross into thinly veiled racism and xenophobia? I would submit to you, when it looks like this:
http://www.flickr.com/...
Join me below the squiggly for a brief history of Motels, Indian immigrants and the myriad ways that changing demographics in the U.S. cause Americans discomfort.
Over the course of the mid 60's to mid 70's I made many cross country trips by car with the family from California to the Midwest during summer vacations. I don't know if we ever stayed at the Mtn Home Motel or not, but if they were charging more than $12 at the time for a room it's highly unlikely. My father was the kind of guy who would drive for 12 hours, pull into some town and go to 3 different motels before he was satisfied that he'd found the most reasonably priced accommodations on the main drag. Hardly ever was it the place with a pool or the cool neon sign. I remember several places where you could pull the car right up to your door, with a gravel courtyard.
These independently owned motels flourished over the years after the completion of America's highway system, and up into the early years of the Interstate Highway system. Route 66 was the most legendary highway, called America's "Mother Road." It went from Chicago to Los Angeles, and at its peak just about everyone who travelled from points east to California drove its length. As America's car culture exploded, so did the need for a place to bed down for the night. The motel industry was born.
Once you got outside of the major cities, the major chains of the time didn't pay much attention. Hilton, Holliday Inn, Howard Johnsons...these were by and large entities that centered their focus on cities...but once you got to towns like Ludlow, CA; Seligman, AZ, Kingman, Winslow, Tucamcari, Grants, NM, Clines Corner, NM, Vega, TX, Shamrock, Clinton, OK, El Reno, Stroud, Elk City, Chandler, Carthage, MO, Springfield, Rollo, Lebanon, Cuba, Chelsea...and countless others..it was by and large Mom and Pop establishments.
They were a natural entrepreneurial opportunity in America's "Age of the Auto". The initial investment was relatively low, compared to other businesses. And the operating cost was also low. For many a post WWII middle aged man, it was the opportunity to own your own business, be your own boss, and have an independent lifestyle.
By the time of the mid 70's, several forces came to play that changed that scheme of things. Opec had formed, gas prices rose precipitously, and Americans cut back on their road trips. Air Travel had become both more common place and more affordable. The Interstate Highway system had finally finished its last touches...by-pass loops around many of these towns...which cut down on traffic. Mostly, it was a generational thing. The original motel owners, by this time, were of retirement age. And their kids wanted no part of the family business. Who wants to live in Shamrock, Texas, or Chelsea, Oklahoma? Especially if you get high.
So...slowly at first, but more and more, these motel properties went up for sale. And the Patel Motel, a turn on the phrase "No-tell Motel", was born.
Sociologists have a term for it. "Pioneer and follower." That is a term used to explain how an ethnic group comes to dominate a specific niche in the marketplace. The Chinese laundry, for example, or the Korean deli in New York City. One person comes...chooses a business...prospers and calls his family members and friends to follow in his footsteps. So it was in the motel industry. The official history is a bit hazy, but it seems to have started in San Francisco. A derelict hotel was purchased by an Indian immigrant, who renovated it and made a good living. His brother came over and followed the same plan... Next thing you know, there are several Indians following the same path that was blazed by the first. Then America changed its immigration laws.
It used to be that only a few Indians could qualify for visas each year, until the mid sixties when we changed our immigration laws to favor family reunification. That opened the doors to a lot more Indians than previously. Also, at the same time, former British African colonies in Africa gained their independence. It just so happens that there were a lot of Indians living in East Africa countries, at the behest of their former British colonial lords, who found themselves in dicey circumstances once independence took hold. These weren't poor immigrants...just people who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. When they immigrated to America, they had a grub stake.
These aging motel properties came on the market, and Indians bought them. Americans weren't buying them. And, as I said, the children of the original owners wanted nothing to do with them. They were a relatively inexpensive business opportunity, with the added bonus of providing both a living and a place to live. That, perhaps, is where the trouble started.
I remember the last cross country road trip our family made in 1976. My Dad pulled into motel in Springfield, Missouri...left us in the car, which was how things worked...and walked into the office to check on the rates. He came came to the car within minutes and announced "We aren't staying here." Was the room rate exorbitant? I doubt it. The proprietor was Indian, and their children were playing in the lounge area of the main office. The kids playing in the office area probably wasn't very "professional"...to the extent that Mom and Pop motels have professional standards...but he also complained that the place reeked of something cooking in the back room. I now know that that was probably curry, but I didn't then.
So here's the deal...Indians represent only 1% of the American population. They are a small minority. But amazingly, they have managed to infiltrate the motel market to the point where, now, 50 to 60% of what is called the "economy hotel" properties are owned by Indians. That's pretty amazing. And actually, it's probably a good thing. Because if they didn't, a hell of a lot of motels in this country would look like this:
http://www.flickr.com/...
or this:
http://www.flickr.com/...
The "American Owned" signs started going up slowly in the 80's. But after 9/11 they mushroomed...and they've never come down. 9/11 gave a lot of these Mom and Pops and veneer of patriotism to disguise the unadulterated racist pitch of their advertisements. Sometimes, instead of merely saying "American Owned", they say "God Bless America" or "American Hospitality". But what they are really saying is..."stay here, we're White, just like you are."
I have mixed feelings about this sort of advertisement...not in the sense that I'm unsure if it is wrong. It most assuredly is. But I'm not sure who it tars the most...the advertiser or the consumer. I'm sure that these small motels don't make a lot of money (although, if you accumulate enough properties, as many Indians have, you can make quite a bit of money...so much for the "white kids" who didn't want to take on the family business)...so they look for a way to differentiate themselves from their competition and garner a bit more business. What else are they going to advertise? Cable TV? Air Conditioning?
It's the travellers who respond to this sort of racist advertising. If they didn't, it wouldn't exist. But the last laugh is is the best laugh. I've read that many Indian moteliers, after fighting fruitlessly against this blatant racist advertising, have now embraced it themselves. Either they have become Naturalized citizens themselves, or their 2nd generation kids who are now running the motels are also advertising as American owned, as indeed they are Americans.
What's a racist traveller to do? You can't trust anything anymore.