Month: November 2016

(CNNMoney) — Amid all of the talk about economic populism this election cycle, one group has been largely left out: working class Americans of color.

The focus has been on the white working class, with the narrative of a forgotten America where rural whites once held steady factory jobs with decent wages. The economic anxiety facing black and brown workers, while arguably more profound, has been largely left out of the conversation.

In fact, in a CNN/Kaiser poll taken before the election, 63% of white working class respondents said they were satisfied with their personal financial situation compared to just 40% of black working class respondents. Both groups were overwhelmingly dissatisfied with the country’s economic situation.

The disparities make sense considering the vast racial wealth gap in the U.S. White families, on average, tend to have 13 times more wealth than black and Latino families, according to the Pew Research Center.

Blacks and Latinos also tend to be paid less than whites and they are also more likely to have higher rates of unemployment than whites do. They are also more likely to live below the poverty line than whites.

One study by the Economic Policy Institute showed that black employees with more experience and education were still paid less than their white counterparts. Another study by the Corporation for Economic Development and the Institute for Policy Studies said if current trends persist, it would take 228 years for black families and 84 years for Latino families to accumulate the same amount of wealth as whites.

Yet, the focus remains on the problems of white working class Americans.

“In general there is a tendency to not talk about blacks as workers. This hurts the whole dialogue,” said William Spriggs, chief economist for the AFL-CIO and an economics professor at Howard University. Instead, black and brown workers are considered “underclass” as opposed to working class and “lazy” instead of hardworking, said Spriggs. And yet, they too have worn overalls and lost factory jobs.

“The notion of the white working class implicitly embodies a view of white privilege,” said Spriggs, “It implies that things are supposed to be different for them, that they aren’t the same, that they aren’t going to face the same pressures.”

There is no official definition of the working class. Some define it by education level or job sector, others by income. John Hudak, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution calls these voters “economically marginalized” because they often fall somewhere between the poor and the middle class.

“The realities of race in our society and in our economy benefit white Americans over communities of color,” Hudak said.

President-elect Donald Trump promised to address some of the economic issues facing black voters with his New Deal for Black America, which he released in October. The ten-point plan includes a series of economic proposals that some experts say fall short of their intended goal.

In it, Trump calls for tax reforms including lowering the business tax from 35% to 15% and imposing a “massive” middle class tax cut and child care tax deductions.

Assuming tax cuts will help communities of color is “foolish,” said Hudak. “We didn’t see massive employment creation in the 2000s following those tax cuts,” Hudak said. “What we did see is massive wealth accumulation of the top earning of Americans, but we didn’t see a trickle down effect.”

Reverend Starsky Wilson, the president and chief executive of the Deaconess Foundation, a non-profit serving the children of St. Louis and a member of the Ferguson Commission, said a better way to spur economic growth would be through raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. “Those aren’t asset building strategies, those aren’t income building strategies,” Starsky said of the Trump’s tax plan.

According to 2015 data from the Bureau of Labor statistics, 3% of white, Asian and Latino workers earned the federal minimum wage or less, compared to 4% of black workers.

Trump also called for a “tax holiday for inner city investment,” which Melina Abdullah, a professor of Pan-African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles and an organizer for the Los Angeles Black Lives Matter chapter, called “code for gentrification.” She said such tax holidays allow investors to build amenities that typically attract mostly wealthier, white residents, thereby pushing poorer, working class people of color further away from city centers.

In his plan, Trump also calls for financial reforms to expand credit and support new job creation, including making it easier for African-Americans to get credit to start businesses.

“Credit is debt,” said Starsky. “The community is talking about building assets, you’re talking about building more debt. Who benefits when you offer more credit? The banks. We’ve seen that story before,” said Starsky, referring to the housing boom when blacks and Latinos were the prime targets of subprime loans.

Trump also called for new investments in infrastructure as a way to create jobs, something that Democrats have had on their agenda.

Hudak said Trump’s proposal was “a very good idea that would have meaningful effects in both white and non-white communities,” but he was concerned about the emphasis on public and private partnerships to achieve that goal. “Roads are not private, ports are not private,” Hudak said. “I don’t know if the President-elect would use tax incentives in order for private companies to take over public infrastructure.”

Abdullah was also concerned about this point. “Any time we see the term public-private partnership we should wake up. It means diverting public dollars to private corporations,” she said.

Trump also proposed canceling “all wasteful climate change spending from Obama-Clinton, including all global warming payments to the United Nations,” and using the estimated savings of $100 billion over 8 years to fund urban infrastructure.

“If you were interested in the water systems of the inner city you wouldn’t be talking about dismantling the EPA,” said Starsky of the Ferguson Commission. “The rebuilding of infrastructure is the responsibility of government.”

Representatives for Trump did not return requests seeking comment.

BALTIMORE — After the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin, the “Black Lives Matter” movement began in earnest.

As more incidents involving law enforcement officers and black men and women like Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; Sandra Blank in Texas; and Freddie Gray in Baltimore, the movement took on greater meaning and energized many to become activists in African-American communities around the country.

Now, an important outtake from that movement has begun and, just like “Black Lives Matter,” those behind the latest “Black Dollars Matters” action are hoping that it’s not just a moment but also a movement.

“Because of the ‘Black Dollars Matters’ movement, we’ve received many telephone calls from individuals and organizations who’ve shown a lot of interest,” said Harbor Bank president, CEO and chairman, Joseph Haskins Jr.

“Once folks learned or discovered that we are black controlled, things took off,” Haskins said of the numerous new accounts customers have opened recently in support of the movement.

Reacting to the wave of shootings of black men by police officers, thousands of African-American consumers across America are directing their dollars by opening checking and savings accounts in Black-owned banks.

A grassroots effort found the nation’s black banks receiving calls and on-line requests to open accounts.

“This is a movement that began over 100 years ago, but had become dormant because of racial integration. Thousands have been mobilized to protest with their spending power,” said National Bankers Association president, Michael Grant. “Many African-American consumers are linking the shootings with a sense of powerlessness, feeling undervalued and disrespected.”

A significant number of African-American bankers are hearing that black lives do not seem to matter because less value is placed on the lives of black people as a group in America, the NBA said in a statement.

Since July, however, thousands of checking and savings accounts have been opened at black-owned banks.

“We’ve had such an account opening success with deposits varying from the hundreds to the thousands of dollars,” said Haskins, noting that Harbor Bank’s locations in Baltimore and Randallstown have been the beneficiary of the movement.

“We’ve had several high-profile individuals, sports stars and entertainers, come in and ask what they could do,” he said, noting that the bank has realized close to $10 million from account openings.

Singer Solange Knowles, the sister of pop star Beyoncé, recently announced that she was moving her dollars to a black-owned bank. In the summer, Knowles reportedly posted on her Instagram account— where she has over a million followers – “I’m proud to say I made that step today. Time to literally put my money where my mouth is.”

Her post included a list of the black-owned banks in the United States. There are 22 of them. In addition, there are 318 credit unions with African-American designations to also choose from, according to Yes Magazine.

Haskins, one of the founders of Harbor Bank when it opened in 1982, said the movement has unprecedented momentum.

“The only time that I can recall anything similar to this is when we first opened in September of 1982. And, that was fed probably by those looking to make a difference at that time,” Haskins said. “But, I have not seen the level of what we are now seeing since the call of ‘Black Dollars Matter.’ There is legitimate interest in moving money toward black-owned institutions and in keeping money inside of the community.”

Grant cautioned black consumers to be mindful of the voluminous requests that the banks are receiving on-line, in person and by telephone.

“This is a very positive development for black banks. They have always provided a disproportionate share of the small business loans and consumer loans to African- Americans,” Grant said. “Ironically, it seems that we have gone full circle back to where we were before desegregation. The black community is turning inward and seeking to provide security for itself. And few would argue against the notion that nearly every major social issue plaguing black people in America can find its roots in economic deprivation.”

BALTIMORE — Applications are now being accepted for the 2017 Cupid’s Cup Entrepreneurship Competition, presented by Under Armour Founder and CEO Kevin Plank. As the signature program of the Plank Foundation for Entrepreneurship (PFE) with over ten successful years of tremendous growth, 2017 will bring another evolution as the competition moves to Chicago, with Northwestern University hosting the event next spring. The University’s reputation of being a top-tier incubator for entrepreneurs offers the perfect opportunity to expand Cupid’s Cup and to continue to grow the competition. The expansion to Northwestern University marks the start of a rotation of host venues, as Cupid’s Cup continues to move across the nation.

As a thought leader and advocate of entrepreneurship, Plank continues to the entrepreneurial spirit with his own success story. The name of the event is a nod to one of Plank’s first businesses— Cupid’s Valentine Rose Delivery— an enterprise that he started as a student at the University of Maryland to sell roses on campus. Those profits eventually became the seed money that launched Under Armour.

Cupid’s Cup aims to reach the top entrepreneurial minds in the country, and more importantly, to inspire and foster the community of college students and recent graduates who have already followed Plank’s lead and are running their own companies.

The Cupid’s Cup participants will be competing for over $100,000 in total cash prizes, access to Kevin Plank’s professional network and the prestigious Cupid’s Cup title.

The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled at accredited colleges and universities, or recent alumni of those institutions who are 30 years old or younger. Applicants must be running a legal business entity that has demonstrated proof of traction. There is no fee to apply.

The application deadline is January 1, 2017. Validation Day (semi-finals) will be held on February 8, 2017 at Under Armour’s global headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland with the final competition scheduled for March 30, 2017 at Northwestern University’s Pick-Staiger Concert Hall.

To apply and learn more about Cupid’s Cup, visit: www.cupidscup.com.