Last year, the African American entrepreneur announced a $24 million Series B funding round on the same day that they announced a partnership with Target to sell Bevel in select stores. Walker and Company CEO Tristan Walker is the face of his company. Not to mention, there are other Black business owners who are the face of their companies and are still widely successful. This goes against Nielsen’s findings, which show that Black households have a great purchasing power. Giving a Black-owned business a white face to secure financial capital elicits a success-by-white association sentiment. There’s market and profit found among Black households. The report also revealed that the income growth of Black households exceeded those of non-Hispanic whites at every annual household income above $60,000. 77% of Blacks age 18-54 with a household income greater than $50,000 indicated their heritage was an important part of who they are compared to 58% of the general population. 87% of Blacks feel ethnic recognition is important compared to 59% of the general population. Nielsen’s report, “Increasingly Affluent, Educated, and Diverse: African-American Consumers – The Untold Story” explored just how impactful the Black dollar is for businesses. But whitewashing a team is just another way of undermining Black talent and the power of the emerging blackonomy. Their business doesn’t have to be Black Panther approved. But what they do owe their community is reverence and acknowledgement. Black business owners don’t owe Black people anything. One of the traits of racism is the visceral devaluing of Black lives or in this case, Black talent. But Black business owners who practice race-based hiring aren’t making themselves digestible they’re being digested by racism, and thus contributing to it. So, I understand making your blackness digestible. There’s an unspoken level of comfort among Black coworkers that just isn’t there, or at least takes time to build with white coworkers. And the way I relate and work with my current coworkers, who are mostly Black, is a lot different from how I interacted with my former white coworkers at my previous job. We all play the game.Ĭurrently, I work for a multicultural ad agency. Arguably, this strategy could be seen as a means to an end or survival.īlack folks are no strangers to making their blackness digestible in the workplace, spaces predominately occupied by white people, and in life. This hiring scheme sends the message that in order to be successful as a Black business owner, you have to be represented by a white person. It’s wrong and racist when white employers do it and it’s just as wrong and racist when done by Black employers. The deliberate employment of white people to retain business and profit is problematic, hurtful, and racially defeatist. But they’re great white hoping their businesses and success. The mere fact that Draughon and the other Black business owners mentioned in the article have a business where they can hire a support staff is a success and an anomaly. Census Bureau, of the 2 million Black-owned businesses in the U.S., only about 107,000 of them have actual paid employees – that’s barely over 5%. That failure gap widens for minority owned businesses.Īccording to the U.S. Most people either don’t attempt out of fear of failure or fail because…well, business start-ups are fail friendly. Starting and sustaining a successful business, regardless of race, is onerous. These clandestine tactics may scale profits, but it also propagates racism. They also admitted to hiring white spokespeople to publicly represent their company. Other Black business owners admitted to leaving their pictures off their company’s website and social media channels. The white sales team members served as the faces of the company, while the public thought of Draughon as just the project manager. In the piece, Duane Draughon, who owns a patio installation company, revealed that he hired a white person to conduct in person interviews to build a white sales team. Last week, the Chicago Tribune released an article where Black business owners admitted to hiding their racial identity or playing down their role as owners in order to grow their businesses. The erasure of blackness continues with some Black-owned businessmen and women. Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn Share on Email
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