At the start of this thread, I said that I thought including information about minority-owned businesses and women-owned business in OSM was a good idea, but that I would like to hear other people’s opinions.
This thread certainly has had a lot of opinions! I appreciate everyone who has contributed to this discussion without making it about politics or making it personal. I hope that everyone who has come to this thread takes away an appreciation and respect for the diversity of opinions, including opinions that differ from theirs.
That said, I think it’s clear that there’s no consensus (edit) on tagging businesses mapped in OSM as minority-owned or women-owned businesses at this time:
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There are clearly quite a few people who are opposed to this. Respecting their opinions means that there should not be a focus on adding this information to OSM.
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There are also clearly quite a few people who are in favor of this. Respecting their opinions means that there should not be a focus on removing this information from OSM.
@Minh_Nguyen has made some very good points that there are underserved and undermapped communities where very few businesses of any type have been mapped. And in particular, that mapping practices that rely on using easily accessible information are likely to leave these areas underserved and undermapped. I think that filling in these gaps in the map will benefit everyone, including minority and women business owners. I hope that anyone who is passionate about either side of this issue will contribute to mapping more small, local businesses!