Wall Street and the Fear of a Black Quarterback
To understand the financial services industry’s problems with race, just look at the NFL
Last summer, I wrote about starting an investment firm in Arkansas in the mid-nineties. I wrote about the racism I faced. Without question, I had many successes. My company was the state’s first — and possibly the last — black-owned investment firm. It was the first Black-owned company to serve as an underwriter in a City of Little Rock municipal bond issue.
But despite those achievements, running the business was a struggle. After about five years, I closed my investment firm. Racism wasn’t the only reason, but it played a role in my decision. The fact that there hasn’t been another Black-owned investment bank in Arkansas in the twenty-plus years since I left the state tells me I probably made the right call.
I spent the last part of my career in finance — over thirteen years — working in Manhattan, a place most would consider pretty liberal. While that may be true, I was surprised by the racism I encountered. My story isn’t special or unique. I suspect almost any Black person who works in financial services or on Wall Street probably has a story about the racism they dealt with during their careers.
