Every morning, Crain's Chicago Business sends out an email with the top 10 stories "you need to start your day." Last week the #1 article was titled "Why Chicago's history of black business success is fading." Written by white journalist, David Mendell, the article discussed how the once thriving incubator of black businesses, Chicago has seen a significant decline in the number of black-owned businesses as well as companies with black professionals in c-level positions.
What's interesting about the article is the lack of blame assignment. It seems like in many of the articles we read, like bell-hooks and Bonilla-Silva, there was a discussion of why black people aren't given the same opportunities as whites. Whether blaming white ideology, I'm looking at you Bonilla-Silva, or merely discussing the lack of concern as one of the reasons behind the lack of opportunity for black, blame assignment seems to be a common trend amongst scholars. However, this article in Crain's didn't take such an approach. Discussing the backwards shift in minority business leaders, John Rogers Jr., the founder and CEO of Chicago's Ariel Investments, said, "“It used to be that Chicago was the mecca of black businesses, but there's no doubt that we have gone backwards substantially when it comes to successful African-American entrepreneurs."
Rogers is black, and to hear him say "we have gone backwards" was unexpected. If there is someone to blame, it's not just black professionals. It's the economy, it's the lack of business success, it's black people, it's white people - it's everything. I think as a society we have a tendency to assign blame because it makes us feel better. Just look at the conservatives who blamed the recent tornados in southern Illinois on the passing of the marriage equality bill. It's absurd, but they do it anyway.
Disregarding blame, it's clear the lack of minority of c-level business professionals is an issue - especially when they're making huge decisions that impact thousands of employees and customers. But is there really anything we can do? No. There's not. Hiring new CEOs and such doesn't happen every day. And when it does, there are laws in place to ensure equality. While it can be difficult to prove that race played a role in a company's hiring decision, it's possible. I think it's just going to take a further improved economy to get minority business professionals back to the level it once was.
Here's a link to the full article: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20131123/ISSUE02/311239992/why-chicagos-history-of-black-business-success-is-fading?r=1995J0362478B9V#
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