From school segregation to redlining, people of color in our country have setbacks not experienced by their white counterparts. Consider this from Forbes:
“Numbers released by the U.S. Commerce Department’s Minority Business Development Agency show that minority-owned businesses are less likely than white-owned businesses to secure funding…”
The discrepancy in business funding has become exacerbated in the past year during the pandemic, when money through the Paycheck Protection Program also favored white-owned businesses.
As with most systemic setbacks, the deficit builds and it becomes harder and harder to catch up. So when we were hit with a pandemic, Black-owned businesses took an unfair share of the hit.
“CBS News: A Main Street Alliance/Color of Change poll released in October found that only 40% of Black business owners expected to remain open over the ensuing six months…”
At Consciously, we believe information empowers. Shopping Black-owned businesses can help level the playing field and we want to be sure you have the tools to ensure Black-owned businesses thrive and keep our communities strong.
