Black businesses and their employees are being locked out of the federal coronavirus relief fund. Congress’ current small business relief program assumes that all business owners have equal access to credit and to banking services. But we know that has never been the case. From redlining to the refusal to provide loans, Black people in this country have historically been locked out of entrepreneurship, with devastating consequences for our communities.

Today, Black-owned firms with paid employees generate over $103 billion annually. The largest share of that revenue comes from Black-owned businesses in the health care and social services sector. By providing a paycheck guarantee to businesses directly, Congress has the chance to invest in essential industries, to prevent countless layoffs, to preserve our communities’ access to healthcare, and to ensure that the places that have served our communities for years are able to survive this crisis.

Join us in calling on Congress to cut out the middleman and provide a direct paycheck guarantee to small businesses today!

It is not a coincidence that the median wealth of white families is roughly 10 times the median wealth of Black families. Generational inequalities in healthcare, housing, and employment mean that Black people are more likely to die from COVID-19 than any other demographic in the U.S. Unless Congress provides direct relief to small business owners, our communities will continue to disproportionately share the burden of this crisis. Black entrepreneurs deserve the same kind of access to coronavirus relief packages that will keep other businesses in this nation afloat during this crisis and beyond. It’s time for a direct paycheck guarantee for small businesses from Congress now.

When you protect Black business, you protect Black workers. Join us in demanding a direct Paycheck Guarantee from Congress now!

These are our demands:

• Funding for small business grants, not loans, that will allow for Black-owned businesses to retain and rehire their workforce and reopen after the health crisis. This includes funds for direct payroll support, as well as covering all costs to maintain the business. Making sure that businesses, especially Black owned businesses, can maintain payroll through direct transfers rather than loans will ensure these businesses can survive the crisis, get money into the hands of people more quickly, and relieve the strain on a patchwork of state unemployment systems.
• Mandate a full, public accounting by race, gender and geography of where stimulus money has gone particularly have Black-owned businesses received federal support.
• Create targeted support funds for Black businesses. Any additional funding for small business support should include a substantial dedicated fund for supporting minority-owned businesses.

Here is the Petition:

To Representatives,

In the best of times, Black people have had to overcome this country’s persistent underinvestment in Black business. According to a 2016 study by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy, only 1% of Black-owned businesses received a bank loan in their first year of operation, compared to 7% of white businesses. And twice the number of white business owners use a credit card during their first year of operation at 30%, as do Black business owners at 15%.

Today, Black-owned firms with paid employees generate over $103 billion annually. The largest share of that revenue comes from Black-owned businesses in the health care and social services sector. By providing a paycheck guarantee to businesses directly, you have the opportunity to invest in essential industries, to prevent countless layoffs, to preserve Black communities’ access to healthcare, and to ensure that the places that have served Black communities for years are able to survive this crisis. 

Generational inequalities in healthcare, housing, and employment mean that Black people are more likely to die from COVID-19 than any other demographic in the U.S. Unless Congress provides direct relief to small business owners, Black communities will continue to disproportionately share the burden of this crisis. We asking that you implement a direct paycheck guarantee for small businesses.