{"id":6995,"date":"2025-04-03T03:19:29","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T03:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=6995"},"modified":"2025-04-16T05:02:58","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T05:02:58","slug":"killing-the-mbda-wont-just-cripple-black-businesses-itll-weaken-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=6995","title":{"rendered":"Killing the MBDA Won\u2019t Just Cripple Black Businesses \u2014 It\u2019ll Weaken America"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>by\u00a0<span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtoninformer.com\/author\/marc-h-morial\/\">Marc H. Morial<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWe must also provide an expanded opportunity to participate in the free enterprise system at all levels \u2014 not only to share the economic benefits of the free enterprise system more broadly, but also to encourage pride, dignity, and a sense of independence. In order to do this, we need to remove commercial obstacles which have too often stood in the way of minority group members \u2014 obstacles such as the unavailability of credit, insurance, and technical assistance. Involvement in business has always been a major route toward participation in the mainstream of American life. Our aim is to open that route to potentially successful persons who have not had access to it before.\u201d \u2014 President Richard M. Nixon<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration\u2019s efforts to rewrite American history under the guise of fighting a mythical \u201canti-white\u201d racism took a dangerous turn this week as the White House issued an executive order effectively gutting the Minority Business Development Agency.<\/p>\n<p>Since President Nixon established it over 50 years ago, the MBDA has provided government financing and contracting opportunities that have fueled the growth of minority-owned businesses and strengthened our communities.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n<div class=\"newspack_global_ad scaip-1 fixed-height\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-caf9af3267-0\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The National Urban League waged a decade-long fight to elevate the MBDA to a statutory agency because its role in driving economic equity and closing the racial wealth gap is irreplaceable. In fiscal year 2023 alone, the agency facilitated $1.2 billion in capital, secured $1.6 billion in contracts, and generated or saved more than 14,000 jobs.<\/p>\n<p>Dismantling the MBDA is the latest example of right-wing extremists rolling back hard-won civil rights victories that have helped level the economic playing field. Under the pretense of race neutrality, they are actively working to erase policies that acknowledge and address systemic disparities.<\/p>\n<p>In March 2024, a federal judge in Texas appointed by Donald Trump ruled in favor of a lawsuit brought by white entrepreneurs, arguing that the MBDA\u2019s mission of supporting minority business owners amounted to unconstitutional racial discrimination. While the judge acknowledged that racial minorities face greater challenges in accessing capital \u2014 including lower loan approval rates, smaller funding amounts and higher interest rates \u2014 his astonishing ruling was that there was insufficient evidence that government policies contributed to these disparities.<\/p>\n<p>This ruling, coupled with the administration\u2019s actions, threatens to undo decades of economic progress. Eliminating race-conscious programs under the false premise of equality ignores the stark realities of systemic discrimination and denies communities of color access to resources essential for closing the racial wealth gap.<\/p>\n<p>The administration\u2019s decision is not just unlawful and unjust \u2014 it is an economic disaster in the making. Minority-owned businesses contribute trillions to the U.S. economy and employ millions of workers. Stripping them of vital federal support will stifle job creation, weaken local economies and widen the wealth divide.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n<div class=\"newspack_global_ad scaip-2 fixed-height\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-2bd992b9b0-0\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>At a time when economic inequality remains one of the nation\u2019s most pressing challenges, the federal government should be expanding opportunities for underserved businesses, not eliminating them. This is not just a policy fight \u2014 it is a battle for economic justice, and we cannot afford to lose.<\/p>\n<p><em>Morial is president\/CEO of the National Urban League.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Source: Published without changes from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtoninformer.com\/gutting-minority-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Washington Informer Newspaper<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by\u00a0Marc H. Morial \u201cWe must also provide an expanded opportunity to participate in the free enterprise system at<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[255,32,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-america-under-attack","category-business","category-regular-column"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6995"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6997,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6995\/revisions\/6997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}