Previous Story Next Story View Comments Send This Page Date Archives Category Archives

Black Businesses Hit Hard in New Orleans

More news stories on Black Culture

Jennifer Liberto, CNN, August 20, 2009

{snip}

Less known and perhaps more devastating to the African-American business community was the destruction of many black middle-class neighborhoods. Doctors, lawyers, architects, teachers and business owners have yet to return to homes in New Orleans East and Gentilly.

Just as these neighborhoods have been the slowest to repopulate, black-owned companies have been slowest to return and restart.

Based on phone disconnection rates, nearly one in four black-owned companies in New Orleans and Biloxi had closed in 2008, a rate 52% higher than for white-owned businesses, according to the Political & Economic Research Council, a North Carolina think tank.

{snip}

Now, as cranes, backhoes and steamrollers become more commonplace in the city, New Orleans’ storied African-American business community could be left out of the rebuilding of the city.

{snip}

While there’s a new law on the books that encourages the city to spend 35% of all public financing on minority- and women-owned businesses, [Mayor Ray] Nagin said he’s worried the city can’t meet those goals due to the smaller pool of available companies.

{snip}

Under-represented

Black-owned businesses in New Orleans never reflected the city’s demographics. In 2002, African Americans made up two-thirds of the population in New Orleans. But less than a third of businesses were black owned.

Solid post-Katrina recovery numbers are scarce, but the Political & Economic Research Council has focused on small businesses in New Orleans and Biloxi, Miss., and in three surveys they found that African-American owned companies were hardest hit.

{snip}

Many black-owned small businesses were particularly ill-prepared for such devastation, because they tended to start out deeper in debt, with far less access to start-up investment funds.

{snip}

According to the Political & Economic Research Council, those black-owned companies that survived reported lower sales, higher debt and a tougher time getting access to affordable credit than companies owned by whites or Hispanics. Michael Turner, president of the think tank said that most of their reports have concluded that African-American owned companies were “sucking wind” compared to those owned by other ethnicities.

{snip}

Original article

(Posted on August 20, 2009)

Previous story Next Story Post a Comment Send This Page Search

Comments

1 — Tim wrote at 6:49 PM on August 20:

New Orleans will take the same path that Detroit has traveled in becoming a chaotic collection of criminal gangs and outlaws.

2 — ranger wrote at 7:04 PM on August 20:

Just more stats on black failures even though they’re given more privileges than anybody else.

Remember Jeremiah Wright on the video denouncing whites for treating black males “outrageously”? Obviously, he was complaining, as most blacks do, about black inability to succeed, blaming it on white “oppression and racism.”

But, really, what else can they do? Accepting the truth means admitting they’re behind every race in the US, and that is more than their fragile, arrogant egos can take.

They would rather blame their lack of intelligence and ability on whitey somehow.

New Orleans is an example where they’re given an unfair advantage over everybody else, yet they fail as miserably there as anywhere else.

How much better any country is without a population of blacks. (Including Africa.)

3 — sbuffalonative wrote at 7:06 PM on August 20:

And the solution? Initiatives and money.

“While there’s a new law on the books that encourages the city to spend 35% of all public financing on minority- and women-owned businesses”

35% of all public financing? And still they can’t find qualified black businesses?

What are we expected to do? Hold their hand every step of the way, run the businesses for them, then give them all the credit for running successful black businesses?

4 — Peter K wrote at 4:04 AM on August 21:

New Orleans will be different than any other chocolate city in America in that it suffered through Hurricane Katrina. They will always use that natural disaster as an excuse for their problems and they will continue through the years asking for more and more federal money to solve those problems. New Orleans has already received over 75 billion dollars in federal money, yet that hasn’t been enough; there will never be enough. The city will become a huge money pit for the U.S. even more than it already has been.

5 — Anonymous wrote at 5:09 AM on August 21:

Running a successful legitimate business requires ,hard work, insight, and intelligence. No further comment is required.

6 — Fed Up wrote at 8:00 AM on August 21:

But don’t worry,folks… NOLA’s incompetent joke of a mayor will find a way to blame it on Whites people. Claiming “White racism” is creating an inhospitable climate in his city thus preventing the return of Black professionals.

By the way, what are the most recent crime stats for New Orleans. Last I heard, those fine, upstanding Black citizens were as prone to robbing their own people, as they were to robbing White tourists dumb enough to visit that city.

7 — Anonymous wrote at 12:41 AM on August 23:

Yes, New Orleans suffered through Katrina. So, did Mississippi, and other Gulf State areas. Are they as depressed, and lacking the desire to rebuild on their own, or are they all waiting for someone to do it for them?

Parts of Iowa had been destroyed by terrible floods, which had whole Towns under water, yet we heard nothing about the degree of crimes, such as Rape, and Murder, as we did in New Orleans.

I can’t say for sure, but something also tells me that those flood damaged areas, that were not News worthy, according to the Networks, have probably rebuilt, and recoverd nicely, by now.

8 — Nick the Aussie wrote at 6:35 AM on August 24:

“While there’s a new law on the books that encourages the city to spend 35% of all public financing on minority- and women-owned businesses, [Mayor Ray] Nagin said”

Over 68% of New Orleans popultation is black and whites make up less than 28%, so who is the minority?

When whites are a minority across America will those stupid affirmative action policies still exist? By then the liberal multiculturalists would have achieved their dream and destroyed the US economy and make it look more like mexico and Africa than what it is today.

9 — jdavis wrote at 10:26 AM on August 24:

Nick the Aussie is correct; when will the true minorities begin to receive the “quota benefits” programs?

Keep the faith people, there is a black or brown leader coming to save you.

10 — kgb wrote at 2:48 AM on August 25:

So NOLA is already a chocolate city again. I’m not surprised at all.

But those black doctors, lawyers and professionals don’t seem to understand that we don’t want them around either.

11 — margaret wrote at 1:40 PM on August 27:

In other New Orleans news:

AFP via News.com.au (Australia) ^ | August 27, 2009
MEXICO’S volatile border city of Ciudad Juarez has the world’s highest murder rate, followed by Caracas, Venezuela and the US city of New Orleans.

Home Top Previous story Next Story Send This Page Search