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Dispatch From Ferguson: Convenience Store Owners Talk Race

South Asian Convenience Store Owners Talk Race In Ferguson
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By 

Senior Editor, The Huffington Post

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People stand in front of a convenience store after it was looted early Saturday, Aug. 16, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo. The violence stemmed from the shooting death of Michael Brown by police a week ago after the teen allegedly stole a box of cigars from the store. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

In the days after white police officer Darren Wilson killed black 18-year-old Michael Brown, the Ferguson Police Department released a security video taken from Ferguson Market & Liquor that allegedly shows Brown participating in an unrelated theft. Many South Asians who saw the video began to wonder whether the store worker in the video was South Asian and whether the business was South-Asian owned and operated. It is. An Indian businessman, Mike Patel, owns not only Ferguson Market and Liquor but also leases several other stores, including a beauty supply store and Sam’s Meat Market and More, to other immigrants, some of whom are Arab-American.

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