THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 4, 1994 TAG: 9410040428
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: D01 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Marc Tibbs
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Walking through the Bowling Green housing project (uh, make that housing park) one can't help but notice its destitution.
In some sections, grass grows stubborn against the soil, and boarded-up apartments mar the concrete and iron-fenced landscape.
Single mothers with children abound, some making the trek to nearby Long's Market well past noon, still wiping the sleep from their eyes.
It seems things have been this way for years.
Bowling Green families do a lot of shopping at Long's. It's the kind of store that sells everything from disposable diapers and dishwashing liquid to clothing and charcoal briquets. Sort of a poor person's 7-Eleven.
Which is why some residents found it hard to believe Norfolk Councilman Herbert Collins Sr.'s recent comments. His family has owned Long's Market for more than 40 years.
Collins said that public housing residents ``are the most underemployed, the most undereducated, the most underchurched . . . underdisciplined people in our society.''
They're also the most captive consumer market.
``My friend was telling me about what he (Collins) said a few days ago,'' said a dejected Mia Perry, 28, of Bowling Green. ``I couldn't believe it; as much money as I spend in that store.''
People without transportation have no choice but to shop at Long's. A half-mile down Ballentine Boulevard is another grocery, but for those quick mealtime necessities, Long's is the place.
Long's is also the place where the locals buy beer and wine. Wouldn't that make the store a magnet for those who drink their wine out of brown paper bags, and who are likely to be dead ringers for the culprits in Collins' diatribe?
``I would be remiss if I didn't think beer and wine contribute to some of the problems,'' Collins said. ``But you're in business to accommodate. I was sort of pressured into it. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't.''
He estimates that ``30 to 35 percent'' of Long's sales are in beer and wine.
``If I didn't have beer and wine,'' said the councilman, ``they would just go someplace else to get it. I'm sure I make it more convenient, but I'm a businessman.''
But Collins isn't asking for high school diplomas or proof of church attendance from those who get their ``Mad Dog 20-20'' off his shelves.
A free-market system gives him the right to legally profit in any way he chooses. And it's true, proprietors can't always be held accountable for the actions of their patrons. But neither can an entire community be held accountable for the actions of a few.
Collins' sweeping remark about the very people who do business with him is disingenuous, at best. He says that he only has the best interest of the community at heart, and that before he got his ABC license four years ago, life was still tough in Bowling Green.
Maybe. But Collins made his remarks in the wake of a move among city officials to suddenly ``do something'' about public housing. And when he started to throw stones at residents, he apparently forgot he was living in a glass house.
Mia Perry, a faithful customer of Collins' store, said she is still dumbfounded by his remarks:
``I just don't know why he said it,'' she said. ``If he had a problem with us, he knows us, he can come talk to us.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Families from Bowling Green housing project do a lot of shopping at
Long's Market, which Councilman Herbert Collins Sr.'s family has
owned for more than 40 years.
by CNB