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Federal ruling that minority-business aid must be offered to all races makes no sense
My late father, an architectural engineer, spent more than 20 years with the Department of Commerce as a director for the Minority Business Development Agency. He traveled the country working with Native, Latino and Black small business owners who found little support and resources in mainstream, or white, banks and financial institutions.
He helped them build a foundation for their dreams and navigate the rough waters of owning a business.
I'm curious what he would say today after hearing the news that a federal judge in Texas has ordered the 55-year-old federal agency created to help minority-owned businesses to open its doors to all races. Basically, the agency that was once focused on people of color is open to white people.
It's a ruling that potentially impacts dozens of government programs focused on racial minorities. I supposed the argument against the mission of the agency is that after 55 years the playing field has been leveled. Maybe that's what the judge believes. Maybe that's what every person who denounces diversity, equity and inclusion efforts believes too.
I believe they are misguided because the numbers don't lie.
Last year, the Small Business Agency approved $27,515,666,000 in funding to businesses with white business owners receiving 42.3%, Asian business owners, 19.0%; Hispanic business owners, 8.5%; Black business owners, 4.6%; and American Indian or Alaska Native 0.9%.
According to a 2021 Small Business Credit Survey, white business owners (35%) were more likely to be fully approved for business loans compared to Hispanic (19%), Black (16%) and Asian (15%) business owners.
Take a guess who is more likely to be denied loans? Did you guess Black (47%) and Hispanic (44%) business owners? You would be right. That's compared to white (34%) and Asian (32%) business owners.
White business owners will have sort of a double privilege. They have access to the resources they already have and will have access to the small pool of resources that were once for business owners of color. Unfortunately, it doesn't work both ways.
Make that make sense.
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 | Joy Sewing, Columnist |
Worth your time
Photo by: Yi-Chin Lee, Staff Photographer
HISD enrollment drops by more than 30K students since peak
Chronicle writers Megan Menchaca and Anastasia Goodwin report that thousands of Houston ISD families are continuing to leave the district for private and charter schools, since the Texas Education Agency's takeover. Experts say the district needs to address declining enrollment to prevent school closures.
With a video by Chronicle photographer Yi Chin Lee, the article features a parent who grew so frustrated with the district's lack of resources for her daughter, who has learning differences, she transferred her child to a private school and called the experience at HISD "troublesome."
Highlighting Houston
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Storylines we're watching
Cultural Read: NPR's Tiny Desk made Scarface a viral hit. But the Houston rapper has always been of the moment (Chronicle)
Important Read: Neglected and exposed: Toxic air lingers in a Texas Latino community, revealing failures in state's air monitoring system (Texas Tribune)
Fun Read: How Great White Shark LeeBeth's record-breaking journey across the U.S. became a viral sensation (Chronicle)
Arts Read: Fort Bend District Attorney's office unveils mural designed by area high schoolers and artist Reginald Adams (Houston Public Media)
 | Hidden Gems |
Legacy of Black cowboys as Houston Rodeo nears end
As the Houston Rodeo nears its close on Sunday, we highlight a local figure who has worked to preserve the legacy of Black cowboys and their storied history in the Lone Star State.
Larry Callies, a former rodeo entertainer who comes from a long line of skilled horsemen, is the director of the Black Cowboy Museum in Rosenberg, which he founded in 2017. The museum chronicles those pioneers from the past and present who have continued the trail rides, bull riding, cattle herding, horse-taming and wrangling.
A little history lesson: Before the Civil War, one-fourth of Texas cowboys on cattle drives were Black. Even the term "cowboy" is said to have been first used exclusively to describe Black cowboys. White men were more likely to be called, or to call themselves, "cattlemen" or "cowhands."
Black cowboys — and their Tejano and Mexican counterparts — have not been as glamorized in American history books and onscreen, but it's important to recognize their contributions.
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