By Mansfield Frazier
Perhaps I’m just getting cynical in my old age, but the opening of a new wing on the Ronald McDonald House in University Circle on the same day Cleveland’s City Planning Commission was holding hearings on whether to allow a hotly contested new McDonald’s franchise to open on Lorain Avenue and Fulton Road on Cleveland’s near Westside certainly was a coincidence … or was it?
Ronald McDonald House, which houses families of children receiving medical treatment at nearby hospitals, is certainly one of the best examples of corporate compassion in the entire world. Currently there are 322 Ronald McDonald Houses in 52 countries and regions and the good they do for families in need are beyond dispute.
Nonetheless, the facilities are run by the charitable arm of the largest restaurant chain on the planet, boasting 34,000 locations worldwide … and, after all, big business is big business.
So it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that when a group of neighborhood residents began protesting the opening of the new franchise in their community, someone at corporate headquarters decided to try to influence the City Planning Commission’s decision by scheduling the opening of the new wing of Ronald McDonald House on the same day as the City Hall hearings … just to remind everyone of the good works of Micky D.
Giant corporations really don’t appreciate being denied anything … they don’t like to lose. Period. Plutocrats have gotten their way for so long in this country they no doubt feel they are always in the right. And when a group of grassroots citizens challenge one of them — and win — they all get as nervous as bunch of whores in church. This kind of thing — regular citizens (aided by responsive elected officials) making their case and being listened to — could spread. Can’t have that, now can they?
When community activists — like the esteemed George Hrbek — show up carrying professional looking signs and framing their arguments against fast food logically and reasonably, there’s a real fear that citizens around the country could wake up and realize their neighborhoods really belong to them … and not some far-distant corporate entity whose primary — indeed, only — goal is profit. Their coffers get fat … while our kids get fatter.
Indeed, the argument could be made that the growing need for more rooms at Ronald McDonald Houses is due, in part, to the type of food McDonald’s — and a host of other fast fool outlets — purvey. While all fast food joints will occasionally adjust their menus and promote new, healthier selections, no one in their right mind can deny that the proliferation of such outlets — especially in poorer communities, where healthier selections are often more limited — detract from the overall public health. “You want fries with that?”
Certainly the argument can — and will — be made that anything is better than the vacant storefront that currently sits on the Lorain and Fulton site the proposed McDonald’s wishes to occupy. And, just as certainly, it might be a long time before any other business decides it wants to locate on the site. But, in the end, if the residents of the area want to gamble on some kind of business more to their liking coming along, that’s a gamble they should be allowed to make … after all, they’re the people who reside in that community; it’s their ‘hood.
But just because city planners ruled their way at the hearing, it’s still far too soon for the hearty Westside activists to put their signs away just yet. The fat lady has yet to sing, and, as was stated earlier, big corporations don’t like to lose — not even one battle. There’s a good chance they’ll be back with a revised plan they think city officials will (albeit with difficulty) swallow. I’m willing to bet on it.
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.com.