For members of U.S. Senate Banking Committee:                   

In  Strong Support of John Eddie ‘J.J.’ Jones in Asking for Congressional Hearing on Federal Reserve Practice of Stunting Growth of Black –Owned Banks

From Arelya J. Mitchell, Publisher

The Mid-South Tribune

The Mid-South Tribune ONLINE

And the Black Information Highway

We strongly support  Mr. John Eddie “J.J.” Jones’ call for a Congressional hearing into the racial systemic policies of the Federal Reserve which continue to stifle the growth and creation of African American owned banks as we go deeper into the 21^st century. Little attention has been paid to Black economic growth.

The old adage still applies: “The more things change the more things remain the same.” Especially if there are no efforts to literally change them, as was done during the biggest civil rights movement in modern times: The 60’s which brought to fruition the 1964 Civil Rights Law. We no longer have the dogs and water hoses to contend with, but rather the sleek and embedded packaging comprised of practices that are still in place to impede the growth of African American-owned banks and businesses.

The Mid-South Tribune’s credo is a quote from Frederick Douglass, founder of the North Star newspaper and freedom fighter against slavery: “If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want the ocean without the awful thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without demand.”

The last bastion in the Civil Rights Movement is to obtain economic rights. Even Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. recognized that in his final speech, “I Have Been to the Mountaintop” delivered in Memphis, Tennessee.

Throughout the course of history, African Americans have paid blood, sweat, and tears for this country, yet, when it comes to acquiring wealth, an immigrant (even one who comes from the Middle East) can obtain business loans to operate mom & pop stores in traditional African American communities, open bank accounts, and achieve the American dream more quickly than America’s slave descendant children.

Why is that? Simple. Most of the African American ‘powers that be’ continue to be impotent when it comes to gaining a foothold in America’s economic mainstream. And on the other end of that (as they say ‘it takes two’), African American business persons have let themselves as a whole be viewed as  no more than charity cases or merely persons dabbling in a hobby; thus, the terms ‘mentorship’, ‘technical assistance’, ‘counseling’ pop up when Black businesses are mentioned. Of course, the idea of having viable Black-owned banks to help our own is seen as an economic taboo in a paternalistic macrocosm that still view African American business persons as little more than children and their enterprises as little more than toys.

Even under segregation, Blacks were not fully allowed to grow economically. One has to only view the history of Rosewood, Tulsa, and Memphis, when editor Ida B. Wells wrote about the lynching of two Black businessmen and because of her sense of freedom of the Black press, her press was destroyed and she had to escape from Memphis. Other instances can also be mentioned.

Because it is the 21^st Century and so little progress has been made in the area of true Black business ownership and Black-owned banks, we strongly back Mr. John Eddie “J.J.” Jones in asking for a Congressional hearing into the Federal Reserve system and its practices of curtailing Black ownership of national banks.

 On May 22, 2007, Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Small Business Committee held a congressional hearing on Small Businesses. One African American gentleman pretty much summed up this ‘paternalistic’ treatment of African American-owned businesses. In his testimony, Anthony W. Robinson, president of the Minority Business Legal Defense and Educational Fund made the following assessment of what could be called America’s Black Business Sad State of the Union: “…Assistant Secretary of Labor Arthur Fletcher worked closely with Sen. Edward Brooks and Cong. [Parren] Mitchell to pass the earliest minority business legislation. Minority firms have grown quantitatively and qualitatively. According to a recent study prepared by James H. Lowry & Assoc. sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation the growth among MBEs has been dramatic in actual number of employees and revenues… However, historically (and it remains a fact today) minority firms account for a disproportionately smaller share of overall business opportunities in many industry segments than do non-minority firms. According to the Milkin Institute, a minority groups represent 26.1% of the population, but own only 11.6% of the nation’s businesses. Minority businesses receive only 6% of the total business gross receipts and employ only 3% of the nation’s civilian labor force. Perhaps more startling is the fact that in 19 industries with the largest representation of minority subcontractors, only 3.5% of supply dollars are estimated to have gone to minority businesses.”

            Again, take into account that minority businesses only “employ 3% of the nation’s civilian labor force.” And if the ‘Black portion’ of  what is termed as ‘minority businesses’ was to be extracted, we dare say this figure could easily go into a mere fraction, because we simply have not been allowed to hire our own as well as others. Our growth is nil and stagnant.

            Robinson further stated at the hearing: “…What are the reasons for these disparities especially in the absence of a policy mandate? The Lowry study cited several reasons after concluding, ‘The gap that exists has not in any way been caused by a lack of effort on the part of minority entrepreneurs.’ The first reason cited by the Lowry study was that ‘discriminatory conditions that previously existed were deep and pervasive and have not been fully reversed’.”

            What was even more appalling if not surprising was that Robinson pointed out that several African American business persons were afraid of retaliation if they should come forth to testify. Robinson stated: “It is critical that the Committee understand how very difficult it is for these businesspersons to come forward and share their experiences. By coming forward they are putting their businesses in jeopardy of being blackballed and frozen out of future business opportunities with larger companies that dominate their market or industry. I hope that you will all carefully consider the sort of courage and commitment to justice required to take those kinds of risks. I will submit letters and emails providing details of these entrepreneurs’ stories for the record, but in the interest of time I will provide only a short synopsis of the difficulties they are experienced.” [Note to BIH/MST Travelers, please see Business & Economics Lane for details on the hearing, including links. Also, travel to Business & Economics Lane for the Complaint and Public Statement by Mr. John Eddie “J.J.” Jones].

What Robinson describes, to be blunt, is continued Economic Terrorism against African American businesses.

 Jones elaborates this point in his Public Statement: “Specifically, there exists today disparity within the Federal Reserve System among their Member banking institutions with their unwarranted Discretionary actions under certain provisions of the USA Patriot Act against African Americans and African-American-Indians rightful ability to authorize cash transfer possession of S.W.I.F.T. (Society of Worldwide Information on Financial Transactions)…Until now, the United States of America has never, ever defaulted on redeeming and paying its lawful debts via the cashing-in of its lawfully issued United States treasury checks from the United States Department of Treasury.” (See full statement on the Business & Economics Lane).

… and we can add to that ‘Until it was too Black to cash’.

            To reiterate: What is being done regarding African Americans in business is no more than economic terrorism against a segmented citizenry that has been loyal to this country; yet, has only been repaid by efforts to  blackball and continually subject African American businesses and the growth of Black-owned banks to paternalistic stagnation. It would at times seem that Blacks and Kurds have more in common than they think.

            Just as Sen. John Kerry has at least had the balls to hold a formal Small Business Committee hearing, Sen. Dodd should hold the same regarding African Americans and the Federal Reserve System which now is seemingly using the Patriot Act to be unpatriotic towards African Americans.