Time to Control Our Own Economy (2/27/2009)

Now that we've elected the City's third black mayor and the nation's first black president, it's time to take the new, annual "What Have You Personally Done to Move Black Folks Forward Test."

I made it up myself.

Following on the heels of Black History Month, this is a brief exercise to help us do two things: One, to really explore whether the 470,000 African Americans who are aged 18 and over in our city actually support the black community economically, and, two, to give a jolt to the concept of black self-reliance, even as we continue to hold all manner of elected officials accountable for the jobs we so graciously have given them.

As you know, we've got "issues" in our community and no matter how long we have patiently waited, they seem not to be going away any time soon.For example, here we are, 390 years after the first African slaves were transported to Jamestown, Virginia by English entrepreneurs to harvest their new tobacco crop.Here we are, 299 years after New York passed a law that made it illegal for blacks, Indians, and mulattoes to walk at night without a lantern. Here we are, 234 years after the slave population in the American colonies had grown to 500,000 Africans (1:1 free whites to slaves in Virginia; 1:2 free whites to slaves in South Carolina).Here we are, more than 230 years after the establishment of the first Abolition Society in Philadelphia. Here we are, 233 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and 220 years after the signing of the U. S. Constitution.

It's now been 46 years since the "March on Washington." And, don't look now, but it's been 44 years since the passage of the Voting Rights Act.It's been 39 years since Earl Graves published the first issue of Black Enterprise Magazine. And, if numbers could be directly translated into power, wouldn't we now be strong and influential? After all, blacks constitute about 45 percent of Philadelphia's population. We also own 15.8 percent of the City's overall number of businesses (about 10,500).On a national level, we now claim more than 9,000 black elected officials, and, finally, black annual spending power is now estimated by the University of Georgia at $847 billion dollars.

With all of those numbers and all of that potential economic muscle, why is it that black folks are still disproportionately living in poverty (23.9% nationwide and about 30% in Philadelphia), disproportionately unemployed (at least twice as high for blacks as for whites)? Why is it that we have substantially lower family net worth levels (about $5,988 for blacks versus $88,561 for whites)? And why, 146 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, do black businesses nationwide constitute just 5 percent of all U.S. businesses, and why do those same businesses generate just .4 percent of the nation's gross business receipts?Remember, we're about 13 percent of the national population and our 1.2 million black businesses pull in just .4 percent of the dollars spent on an annual basis in this country.

What's that about?

Here's a clue: It's our own fault.

Let me say that again, "Kings and Queens", brothers and sisters and black business and professional people, wherever you are. It's our own fault. I would be absolutely the last person on earth to deny the lingering impact of slavery, racism and discrimination on our families, but all of that notwithstanding, this is something we can control and we simply don't.

How is it that blacks brag about having an annual spending power of $847 billion and yet our own black businesses take in less than $89 billion per year? That sorry statistic indicates that, even if every single dime taken in by the nation's 1.2 million black firms represented money spent by blacks, themselves (and we know that's not true), then black business gross receipts only represent 10.5 percent of the total amount spent each year in this country by black people. Obviously, the truth is much worse than that.If we recognize, in 21st Century America that small businesses have been the largest contributors to job growth over at least the past 20 years, and that about 85 percent of the employees in black firms tend to be, themselves, black, then we must also certainly realize that we, ourselves, have been, and continue to be, major contributors to black unemployment, black poverty, the poor quality of black housing and the generally poor condition of black neighborhoods, when we don't spend money with black businesses, or patronize black banks.What do we have to do to get this, finally, through our own thick, black heads?

While it has become very fashionable, of late, to criticize the lack of performance or underperformance of some black elected officials, or to blame poor quality urban schools or, even, the high black incarceration rate, for our lack of progress, the ongoing, peculiar, self-defeating lack of support for our own businesses is a crisis that, arguably, affects us at an even greater rate than "sub-prime lending" ever did.So what are we going to do about it?It's simple, we can start including black-owned businesses as part of our normal, personal purchasing patterns.

None of this, of course, is meant to be discriminatory on our part. This isn't some "nationalist, red, black and green throwback strategy." This is simply the way in which virtually every other racial or ethnic group in this country has amassed wealth, gained control of their own communities and earned political influence.It's time now for us to get off of our "kiesters" and support our own businesses. There is no room or time for excuses in this matter. It's already too late, the economic condition is already too dire.Like everything else, the only way to grow our black economy and to support black businesses is, simply, to support black businesses. It's not complicated.

To get started, just ask yourselves these few questions (and this is where the test comes in):1. Do you have a list of black businesses that you patronize on a regular basis?2. Do you establish a "goal" for yourself for weekly, monthly, and annual spending with black businesses? Hey, if we want the city, state and federal government and the private sector to set "minority purchasing goals,” why shouldn't we do the same thing on a personal level?3. If you happen to be a black business owner, what percentage of your company's vendors, themselves, are black?4. What ethnicity is your doctor, your lawyer, or your accountant?
5. At your home, are your plumber, painter, roofer and electrician African-American contractors?

That's the test.At the end of the day, this is where I come out: if you are not participating in your own "buy black" program, you are a part of the problem, period. No matter how "black" you talk, no matter how "black" you outwardly appear to be, you are a part of our community's economic problem.So, let's do for ourselves, now, what Hispanic, Asian, Italian, Irish and Jewish consumers have done for their own communities, for years.And, after we've done all of these things, it would then, be okay, and even advisable, for us to run right back to holding Mayor Nutter, Governor Rendall, and President Barack Obama accountable. But until then, as you can see, we've all got work to do ourselves.

What are we waiting for?

By the way, hope you had a great Black History Month!

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