Comparative analysis of marketplaces

Both scientific studies and casual observations confirm that prices are higher in lower class communities for the same items, and sometimes for items inferior to those found in middle and upper class communities. There are, in addition, a variety of schemes designed to take advantage of various kinds of vulnerable people who live in the "ghetto." Such things are enough to arouse even the mildest person to anger, but finding villians is not the same as analyzing causes and effects, which is more important at this point and time. Wherever there are people in a position to be cheated, there has always been someone dishonest enough to cheat them, whatever their color or his color.

Cheating and abuse on a mass scale have been stopped only when the people being cheated and abused became individually sophisticated and collectively politically aware enough to make it no longer feasible.

Supermarket chains and other high efficiency enterprises tend to avoid the "ghetto." As long as they do, and as long as no sizable business class arises in the "ghettos" with sufficient experience to run large scale enterprises efficiently, ghetto prices will continue to be high, even in the unlikely event that all the merchants become honest.

Purpose of the Study

First, this study will hopefully offer another opportunity to understand the needs of this invaluable segment of the American population whose voices are not heard in the halls of legislatures, or in the meeting rooms of government and business officials purporting to act in their best interest. Second, there are hopes that this study is read by individuals concerned enough to redress the injustices, inadequacies, and failures of the American society. Third, this study hopes to enlighten the Knoxville community, especially the poor sections, of the marked differences in the value received by consumers in their area of the city as compared to areas where income and education are much higher.

Importance of the Study

This study is directed toward the Knoxville community, with the hopes of igniting some form of social action in trying to alleviate this social problem. While this study is first directed to an academic audience, it is perhaps not overstating to suggest this study to activists, for the disadvantaged themselves, and for those in the position to make a change or to educate the people, e.g., business people, social workers, government functionaries, and government critics. Hopefully, this study will motivate someone to reflect, further research, and directly act on one of the most serious problems in this country today, exploitation of the poor.