Is this really the story behind Black Friday? | Welcome to Linda Ikeji's Blog

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Saturday 29 November 2014

Is this really the story behind Black Friday?

The number one trending topic in most parts of the world yesterday, including Nigeria, was Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving where stores open early and slash prices of goods to kick off the holiday shopping season. But a group condemning the participation of blacks in the sales day say it stemmed from slavery. Really? Below is what they wrote
"This was the day after Thanksgiving when slave traders would sell slaves for a discount to assist plantation owners with more helpers for the upcoming winter (for cutting and stacking fire wood, winter proofing etc.), hence the name"

85 comments:

jaybeyblu said...

ROTFL smh I'm not surprised. And we continue to be slaves to em

Unknown said...

Yes d story is true

Unknown said...

Gone are d days u just say things and people will believe, if they don't have proof of this claim dey shud shut up... Blacks always trying to play d victim

Anonymous said...

No it's not. This is nonsense. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving (the biggest holiday in America. Even bigger than Christmas and New year). Thanksgiving holds on the last Thursday of November and most employers give workers the day off on Friday. That Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year because almost all retailers deeply discount merchandise, taking their sales from being in the red (not being profitable) to being in the black (making a profit). That's why it's called black Friday. Any other reason you hear is garbage.

Bishop Dammy said...

Humans!! Most it be traced back to this! Can't we just accept the good benefit that day brought? Sure so many really benefited from this day! It is well. Gal 6:10. BishopDammy#

Unknown said...

Well, its d morr reason we should celebrate n take part in black friday equally wit d whites cos we no longer slaves.

Unknown said...

they have change it to another thing...so,critics should chill...


#GodblessNigeria

Unknown said...

Wow.

ary said...

Sounds about right!

Unknown said...

Really?
I believe we should know what called for any celebration, thanksgiving, costume, holiday before we join them. IDK, if is true....Google time

#Commenting thru Glo 4G LTE

Anonymous said...

Have u bothered to think in ur tiny head why they didn't call it white Friday cos they have a way of attaching everything bad with black

Anonymous said...

Ndi naija bu omuta ogbakaria. Copy cat...they won't know the meaning of something and they will just copy just to belong. mscheew

nigeria breaking news said...

Hey Thanks for updating me on such news

Eze said...

U are a fat cow... Wch one is "ndi 9ja"....black Friday is a world stuff....its done in every country of d world...stop looking down on ur country.....bastard

Anonymous said...

The only way any1 would be exactly sure is if they were there so Really? Is a big question ----C21

Eze said...

Ah swear...Godwin u are BIGOT...how hard is it to get sense.....have u asked ursef why everything odd is associated with black.... Bastard

Unknown said...

Yes oooo linda babe

Anonymous said...

Village Girls dancing while bathing in the river [Pic/video]

Anonymous said...

So funny, hmconcept2000@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

You with your giant head lol, is Black Friday a bad thing? Please Google "Black Friday", Hint; you get items at discounted prices (which is good). You said they attach everything bad with black (PS you attach" to" not "with")

Anonymous said...

God bless you!

Anonymous said...

So discounted sales is now bad abi. The victim mentality has eaten u up. If they called it white Friday now, u will complain till heavens come....

Anonymous said...

You left out "garbage"

Anonymous said...

Slaves were not called blacks then lol. It would be Negro Friday or something more derogatory than "black". 2. Who cares? Are they still selling black people? People of all races get things at discounted prices so it's good for all. 3. Assuming this is true, while racism will never be extinct, humanity has made progress so something previously negative is now positive. 4. Anyone that's allergic to "sales" should simply not partake in it. As a sales allergic Zillionare you can always get items at the full price ;)

Unknown said...

Linda, why don't you publish my comment?

Anonymous said...

U are the ignorant person! This is very true. I studied American history in sch

Neks said...

Black Friday is highly controversial i hope in the slavery aspect is not true, otherwise am pained.

yawanow said...

funny.

Anonymous said...

Linda you should do small, research before posting something like this especially since u have a lot of ignorant readers. Black Friday has nothing to do with racism or slave trade. The word wasn't even used until the 1960s..long after slave trade had been abolished. Some African Americans made this up cos they like playing the race card. Pls enlighten your readers

Anonymous said...

Linda .... you are so lazy. Couldn't you even browse black friday 1st before putting up this post? Google is ur friend o

Anonymous said...

Dear Linda, as a reader of your blog, I need to state that you sometimes prey on the ignorance of some of your readers with sensationalism and highly misleading stories. I would ask that you do some bit of investigative journalism before publishing stories as you may not know it, but you will influence the views of some of your readers. The total lack of knowledge on business economics is revealed here. I read your blog to free my mind from a hectic day and so I think you should begin to work on educating those you reach positively. An idea of having a business in the red or black would be of great importance on this topic. Retailers traditionally operated at a financial loss ("in the red") from January through November, and "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or "in the black". A description of a positive balance on a company's financial statements. A company would be said to be "in the black" if it is profitable or, more specifically, if the company produces positive earnings after accounting for all expenses. Conversely, a company with negative earnings would be said to be "in the red." It was a sales strategy brought about to boost business's from a negative profit margin into a positive one and hence the discount sales. Another well known explanation is that people who returned from their thanksgiving holidays in their ancient cars would pollute the streets with smoke from their engines and also so many people on the road turned the roads from white snow covered roads to black roads. Anyone who lives in a country with snow will tell you roads with snow which look beautiful before being walked or drive on become horrible, dirty and nasty looking once there is heavy traffic on it. If people were indoors all day on thanksgiving day, then the scenes around would be covered with beautiful looking snow. When they all came out to shop, all the beautiful white snow become dirty looking as we are all used to.

Anonymous said...

Not true. Most businesses operate at a loss throughout the year and begin to turn a profit with the start of the holiday season's mega sales. A business is in the red when it functions at a loss and in the black when it makes profits. Black Friday marks the start of the most profitable season for many businesses.

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm, If this story is true then we shouldn't join them to celebrate slavery.



Fibroid Flushers

Kunmi... said...

Onyx Godwin. ..u really need to stop taking such pictures not to mention using it as a profile pic. U are a man with two balls, please act like one.

Walata said...

Lmao Nigerians n their stupid thinking pls Google bout black Friday thnx to anon 11:13am u said it all

Anonymous said...

Fed up with simpleton Onyx's slave mentality. How about you tell whites to stop targeting racist acts at blacks so they don't have to keep denouncing them? Blacks can't be playing victim if the things happening to them is real, if they're getting worst treatment than their white peers and getting killed by police at higher rates.

Ruby said...

Thank you anon 11.13am.....your explanation is even more enlightening than the write up.

linda ikeji's boo said...

im not inspired by the tag black Friday.even if I have to shop,it will never be on a black Friday.how could a special sales day be black friday

Anonymous said...

According to Wikipedia...

The day's name originated in Philadelphia, PA, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic that would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Use of the term started before 1961 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation was made: that retailers traditionally operated at a financial loss ("in the red") from January through November, and "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or "in the black".

Anonymous said...

Anon, your statement is worth thinking.

ADMIN said...

Black Friday or green friday,it doesn't make any difference

Anonymous said...

In fact, Black Friday didn’t become a household term until nearly a hundred years after slavery was abolished, according to fact-checking website Snopes.com. Black Friday, which has since been co-opted by major retailers, had an entirely different meaning in 1951. It was originally used by business owners to describe the annual plague of sick calls by employees trying to score a four-day weekend.
Ten years later, the term was used regularly by the Philadelphia police to describe the hordes of shoppers that descended on shopping centers on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Philadelphia cops were not allowed to take off on Black Friday, according to a Philadelphia Bulletin reporter Joseph P. Barret.
Making matters worse, the annual Army-Navy football game drew thousands of out-of-town visitors to the city. Philadelphia reporters covering the annual phenomenon say their regular use of the term helped it spread to television broadcasts finally to the nation’s vocabulary.

The site investigated another popular explanation — that Black Friday is aptly named for the sales that take retailers out of “the red” and “into the black.” Snopes found that this factoid didn’t enter the cultural conversation until the 1980s, decades after it was uttered with dread by Philadelphia police officers.
Thank me later, Linda

WWW.PROMONIGERIA.COM said...

Can't be true

Anonymous said...

The more reason we should be actively involved,for historians it shows where we are coming from and for an average Blackman,who by the way loves to show off,show the slavemasters we are now the buyers rather than the bought.

Anonymous said...

False. Why are people so lazy? Ordinary Wikipedia search will give you a detailed answer. Smh

Anonymous said...

Shut your stupid mouth hypocrite.... Even if u know are u still in the days of slavery? So cos it's associated with slaves and I get a 50% discount on a product I should not buy cos it is associated with slavery? U must be smoking some hot shit.....Black Friday as we know it now is crazy discount day, u don't gain anything by not enjoying the discount cos u wanna remb slavery and not be a copy cat....u just talking bullcrap

Gorgeous Diva said...

And person no hear word for 9ja yesterday black friday!black friday!!. That was how they carried halloween for head pass the oyinbos sef...mstheeeeew!

Anonymous said...

Na wah. The problem with Internet is everrything is now unfiltered. I have seen this before but never seen anyone provide a source to back it up.




We dey declare "Yakata!" at Konga.com

Anonymous said...

It's such a shame blacks always want to play the victim card; where has it led us to? Until we learn to move out of that subconscious that holds us back we can never be free and would never excel. And it's a load of rubbish claiming it's from slave trade. Slave trade has happened and there's nothing that would change it so get a grip and move on.

Anonymous said...

Your reasonn is garbage too because you do not state the history of black Friday. How it started and what make them call it black Friday. Remember anything black is evil in the sick mind of white people

Gabby said...

I thought about the very same thing. Well its a good thing that there is change now. Now blacks are the one's walking freely to buy stuffs. Change is constant.

Unknown said...

OMG!!! Can we just let bygone be bygone? Bringing this up won't make them change Black Friday to white Saturday or make then change black market to white market ! Me personally I don't shop on black Friday because I see it as a rip off, unless on TV ! I use to work in retail so I know!

Anonymous said...

Why would Nigerians ( those not in USA) even talk about thanksgiving? People just love to get involve with everything they do over there same thing with halloween. Nigerians and follow, follow

Anonymous said...

Linda it's not true, this is what people are floating on facebook. Black Friday started in the middle 1900. It has nothing to do with slavery. Linda get your facts together.

Anonymous said...

Thanks oo

Unknown said...

Its actually true and can be confirmed. Black friday refers to a day slaves were sold at discount prices.

Unknown said...

Its actually true and can be confirmed. Black friday refers to a day slaves were sold at discount prices.

Unknown said...

Iz dat so?

Anonymous said...

Linda, Linda, Linda, it is sad that you would spread such ignorance when a simple online search of "Black Friday" will show you the origins of the term, and it has nothing to do slavery. Yes mischievous headlines will get you more traffic, but a little fact checking will spare you the embarrassment of appearing to be the opposite of smart :-)

Anonymous said...

You go beta school jor

Izy Marie said...

According to the late Nelson Mandela (God bless his soul), as he walked out of the gate that led to his freedom, he knew that if he didn't leave his bitterness and hatred behind, he'd still be in prison.
We blacks really need to learn to forgive and forget about the slave trade era because it has happened and there is nothing we can do about it. We should concentrate on moving forward and stop linking everything to slave trade. The more we think about it, the more we hate and truthfully, the hate is not leading us anywhere. We have come a long way so we should focus more on counting our blessings rather than holding on to grudges. Besides our ancestors played an equal part in the slave era because they sold their fellow kinsmen and townsmen into slavery for next to nothing. So let's stop hating and move forward. Black Friday back then might be for a different reason, but today its for a better reason so enjoy it for what it is today and stop holding onto bitterness and hatred.

ibeakwadalam said...

Linda, in this age of Google and search engines, why would you be propagating a lie?

Highly irresponsible.

At no point was it about slave trade.

Black Friday was named because it was the beginning of the season where retailers went from Red (loss) to Black (profit).

Stop misinforming people!

Anonymous said...

what linda stated above is true and for those who do not know, go check your history and stop remaining ignorant.

Anonymous said...

what linda stated above is true and for those who do not know, go check your history and stop remaining ignorant.

Anonymous said...

I must say that assumption is the lowest form of knowledge. What you have posted here is very false and inaccurate. Black Friday was named as such because it was the day that retailers (shop owners) move from being in the red (losses) to being in the black (profits).

Anonymous said...

Exactlyyy!!my thoughts exactly

Anonymous said...

Anon 11.13n ur very much right nd thanks 4 d explanation, so as to upgrade nd appease d ignorant minds which dwells in some blacks nd whites as well.



@jessyangels4love

phlexx said...

This doesn't hold water pls.

Anonymous said...

Any form of slavery is wrong and inhumane. But I fail to understand how getting a 70% discount from Michael Kors is a bad thing hehehe. I am black and I benefited from blackFriday sales :).

Unknown said...

Hmmmmm, we should look at d better side of it. Me, I benefited from it yesterday ooo. Abeg no time to check time

Anonymous said...

This is disgusting and just shows how inferiority blacks think they are.

Why post something like this and have no problem relating to blacks as such? linda!

Unknown said...

Linda why didn't u tell us the meaning of Halloween...yet our brothers and sisters in naija went about dressed in scaring costumed not knowing d meaning..naija mehn, una can copy. Blacks have made themselves subject to whites, and they will forever be expect they deliver themselves from that mentality...

laulipop said...

Positive thinking

Anonymous said...

Whatever meaning it is or attached to it ; once i can buy what i need at a discounted rate

C. Abangz said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

The comments here are ridiculously ignorant, please take some time out to research this yourself, use your google, atleast it is still free to use..

Arome Ameh said...

The original term ‘Black Friday’ referred to the 1869 gold speculation crisis so the term ‘Black Friday’ actually had its roots in economic chaos
The phrase was an in-house term that surfaced in 1961 and was used by Philadelphia authorities to describe Center City traffic congestion from After Thanksgiving shoppers and those attending the Army Navy Game.

AGB said...

Wake up black brothers and sisters....let's learn our history.

Anonymous said...

Is not in every country mumu henry eze! I doubt if u ve leave the shores of nigeria.

Anonymous said...

You are exactly right. The black is an economic reference to profits.

Anonymous said...

If you research the background of christmas and easter you will faint from the shocking truth.

Anonymous said...

If any of you shopped on the internet yesterday and enjoyed the discount then u are all bloody hypocrites.... Yeye people as if they still sell slaves.... There are so many things u do daily mported from other cultures so u all stop vomiting rubbish here

Tega Baah said...

I am reading these comments and I am really shocked.... see the truth is people over here don't get the whole slave trade thing... I won't blame us, it's because we have our families and we know our roots. .. the story is true and we need to QUIT. . Acting all 'educational' as if we know jack cos we don't! Slave trade isn't something to trivialized people suffered, people died, bonds and family ties destroyed! Some of your ancestors were forced removed from their known situation and life style!...
And it's not all rosy for African Americans today.... enough talking tho...
But we really really need to learn and educate ourselves more... if you ever visit Ghana go to the castles in Cape Coast maybe then you will get a feel of this whOle thing

Anonymous said...

Story for the gods

doro dave said...

dis Henry Eze, you just came here to disgrace yourself abi? Which every country of what world?

Nah untop dis matta na im you dey abuse pepu. you be d kine pesin wey dey use hammer to kill fly

Abeg go chop food, before you go dey behave like pesin when hunger dey mamar am

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