In general, if you are an entrepreneur or small business owner, you most likely know how it feels to be constantly rejected and told you don't have enough traction to attract investors or to get a loan. Even though you've busted your butt bootstrapping for many years, all of the effort you put in is still not enough to get that much-needed injection of cash to help scale your business with. Now add being a person of color and a woman, during a pandemic on top of that.
There was a recent study conducted by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition on about 17 different banks who are processing PPP loan applications and proof of systemic discrimination popped up. The study group sent in both black and white testers who applied for the loan and the different options offered to each group paled in comparison. So even though the PPP loan was presented as something to help the small business community as a whole during the COVID-19 crisis, people of color are still being cut out of the deal.
But this is America...where all men and women, are supposed to be treated equally. Sadly, this is still the furthest thing from the truth.
A few weeks ago, a story aired on CBS about the PPP process, and the reporter briefly spoke with a sixty-something-year-old Black woman who applied and she only received $2,300 for her business. Now some may say at least she got something and that the smaller amounts will be easier to get forgiven but that is not the point. When there are other non-minority applicants getting anywhere between $58,000 - $206,000 on average, being offered only $2,300 to help keep a business afloat is downright offensive.
Unnecessary obstacles like these are why so many minority groups have gotten discouraged and have given up on applying. Even while being encouraged by peers and support systems not to fall into that trap, many would probably agree that it's hard to play a game that is essentially designed for you to lose.
To learn how to proceed if you think you have been discriminated against for the PPP loan, visit https://bit.ly/2X2ZHIY
To read a relative article by CBS visit: https://cbsn.ws/3hJ7gg0