Shoutout to Sears being on the mostly right side of history. There have been circulating stories about how Sears was revolutionary during the Jim Crow era. Now, be that as it may, we understand that the Sears company itself is not a revolutionary company nor has that been its business model. It’s a mail-order business — a retailer of general merchandise, tools, home appliances, clothing, and automotive parts and services. In fact, when shopkeepers resisted Sears’ entertaining all paying customers, they convinced their customers to burn the catalogs in public squares, and offered prizes for the most catalogs destroyed. Part of the resistance was economic, pushing back against the catalog’s threat to local businesses, but the racism of Jim Crow was also at work. In an attempt to discourage whites from using the catalog, shopkeepers told them that Sears was a black company, and that was why it sold by mail — to hide its black face. In response, Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck, the company’s founders, published photos to “prove” they were white. They were not anti-racist crusaders. Sears is not your savior. But, shoutout to them for appreciating the black dollar. That’s dope.