BUSINESS
Why Program Helping Black Women Business Owners is Now Dissolved
Rejecting the Fearless Fund ignores banking discrimination
From a Black American perspective, this country is moving in retrograde as programs designed to foster racial equality are now vehemently attacked. For instance, in June, a U.S. federal court of appeals ordered the Atlanta-based Fearless Fund to suspend its Strivers Grant Contest, which provided $20,000 for some businesses majority-owned by Black women. This month, the organization agreed to dissolve the program in a lawsuit settlement. The American Alliance for Equal Rights, an organization led by conservative activist Ed Blum, claimed the program racially discriminated against applicants who were not Black. However, such claims overlook the racial discrimination in the banking industry.
Researchers found that Black entrepreneurs experienced discrimination in the banking industry even when they were more qualified than their White counterparts (Scott et al., 2023). These findings suggest that racial discrimination uniquely impacts the lending process, depriving many of an equal opportunity to launch new businesses. One report, for instance, indicated that “57% of Black business owners” were denied by at least one bank “during the formation of their businesses.” The start-up…
