Black business owners are being denied business loans from banks despite having good credit scores and showing consistent annual profits.
According to the most recent data available from the U.S. Federal Reserve, Black business owners are denied loans by banks more frequently than any other racial group, reported St. Louis Public Radio.
St. Louis-based “sauce man” Freddie Lee James Jr. and his wife Deborah are among those Black business owners who’ve been denied. The couple says despite bringing in $200,000 annually in profit, banks will not give them a loan.
“We have 750-760 credit score. … We pay all our debts. We don’t have no problems with that. But they were saying that the sauce business is not generating enough capital to their standards,” James said.
Statistics show Black-owned businesses are twice as likely to be denied as their white counterparts. While some say its difficult for small business to get loans in general, Galen Gondolfi said racism and discrimination in lending exacerbates the issue for Blacks.
St. Louis-based “sauce man” Freddie Lee James Jr. and his wife Deborah are among those Black business owners who’ve been denied. The couple says despite bringing in $200,000 annually in profit, banks will not give them a loan.
“We have 750-760 credit score. … We pay all our debts. We don’t have no problems with that. But they were saying that the sauce business is not generating enough capital to their standards,” James said.
Statistics show Black-owned businesses are twice as likely to be denied as their white counterparts. While some say its difficult for small business to get loans in general, Galen Gondolfi said racism and discrimination in lending exacerbates the issue for Blacks.
“I tell them failing to plan is like planning to fail,” said. Eddie G. Davis, the center’s president and executive director. “It’s like driving blind. … We work with them to develop their business plan, develop, for example, their target market and identify who their customers will be.”
“We have 750-760 credit score. We pay all our debts.”
Despite bringing in $200,000 in profits, year after year, Freddie Lee James still can’t get a business loan. Black owners’ applications are rejected at twice the rate of whites owners’. @stlpublicradio https://t.co/cmxk0PBvFT
— NPR (@NPR) January 7, 2020
Yeah, say what you want about the current President, me too movement, legalized weed, Chase bank investing with minorities, or any other made up distraction. The truth will always be:
The USA cannot seem to beat the ground-in cancer of racism.
— Cumxhle70 (@cumxhle70) January 7, 2020
This article was written by Isheka N. Harrison for The Moguldom Nation on January 9, 2020.
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