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A Look at The Toledo Black Agenda
A wide range of leaders in
Toledo’s Black community have joined forces to put together
a report on the challenges facing that community in six
critical areas.
The report, The Toledo
Black Agenda, a months-long project in the making, examines
historic obstacles and current challenges in the areas of
criminal justice, economic development, education, housing,
health, workforce development.
The community leaders and
experts were assembled by Lisa McDuffie, CEO of YWCA of
Northwest Ohio and Robin Reese, CEO of Lucas County Children
Services.
Now Toledo’s Black Agenda
will be made available to local government agencies, along
with a host of private and public companies and entities in
order to gather community-wide support for the demands and
suggestions proposed in the report.
We are printing excerpts
from the report over the next few weeks. The following is
McDuffie and Reese’s introduction followed by the executive
summary, statistics and recommendation from the second
pillar – the Economic Justice pillar.
The entire report can be
read online at thetruthtoledo.com
THE TOLEDO BLACK AGENDA
Introduction
The racial inequity that exists today is the direct result
of “Structural racism,” a term that asserts our country is
steeped in policies, practices and culture that, either by
purpose or by indifference, exclude and oppress people of
color. While we recognize that racism affects all people of
color, this document was created by representatives of the
Black community for the Toledo Black community. It is our
response to the murder of George Floyd and to an ongoing
system of unrestrained and unrelenting racism in this
country toward Black people, a system that is moving a race
of people onto a path of genocide in plain view of the
entire country, without any organized and aggressive voices
being raised to stop it. This is our call to action to make
“Black Lives Matter.”
Across the United States, cities are declaring that racism
is a public health crisis. Toledo City Council and the Lucas
County Commissioners each, unanimously, passed the same such
declarations. These words truly represent a step in the
right direction. However, words in a declaration alone will
not institute change. Concrete actions must be planned and
executed to give credibility and effect to these
well-intentioned government decrees.
The broad term “Public Health Crisis” reflects significant
impacts on a community’s health, its life expectancy, and
its economy. Structural racism affects the health of Black
people in every aspect of their lives. Without
question, the
data and research make it clear that racism is a systemic
and ongoing public health crisis with serious consequences
for the health of Lucas County Black citizens. It is also
clear that racism has a profound and pervasive impact
across all the factors that shape our health. This includes
our healthcare delivery systems, education, housing, food,
economic, environmental, criminal justice and political
systems.
Uniform support, from all sectors of the community, of the
recommendations in this document along with zero tolerance
for inequity will drive momentum towards true, lasting and
effective change for the Black community in Greater Toledo.
Acknowledgements:
As the facilitators of
this process, we gratefully acknowledge the hard work, time
and talent of all the individuals who made this document
possible. The forming of the Unification Coalition proved
beneficial in our ability to organize and execute. For
roughly three months of intense weekly meetings, we have
done it!
Lisa McDuffie
Robin Reese
Convener Co-convener
PART II: THE ECONOMIC JUSTICE PILLAR
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Economic Justice is a goal that generations of Black
Americans have been striving to achieve. After centuries of
inequalities, the wealth gap between Black and White
Americans remains vast.
When exploring the financial root causes of this wealth gap
one must look at the assets, liabilities and income as well
as the historic and current hurdles an ethnic group faces in
accumulating wealth.
The historical wealth gap between White Americans and Black
Americans is mainly due to not being able to benefit from
the transfer of wealth from generation to generation. The
years of chattel slavery, decimation of thriving black
communities, not earning a fair working wage, not being able
to purchase and/or retain real estate, and not being able to
obtain competitive financing have negatively impacted this
generational transfer of wealth.
Household income is used to acquire assets and to pay off
debts. Income is also used as a measure to apply for
mortgages and credit cards; consequently, the amount of
income you have often helps you obtain lower interest rates
on the debt you acquire while helping you to lower your
monthly debt payments.
We must reverse the trends that systematically stymie the
growth and transfer of black wealth. With access to proper
resources, we can ensure that the African- American
Community has a real opportunity of revitalizing our
community, owning thriving small businesses, and decreasing
the historic wealth gap.
CONTEXTUAL STATISTICS
The median net wealth for White American families was
$171,000 compared to $17,600 for Black American families, in
the most recent Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances
published in 2016
The latest Census and Federal Reserve data show that White
Americans make up 60.1% of the population but account for
82.3% of the assets owned while Black Americans account for
13.4% of the population but only account for 4.7% of the
assets owned. Census data also shows that White Americans
account for 71.3% of debts owed (while accounting for 60.1%
of the population) and Black Americans account for 8.5% of
the debt owed (while accounting for 13.4% of the
population).
When digging into the data it shows that White Americans
hold most of their debt in lower interest rate mortgage debt
(69.2%) while Black Americans hold most of their debt in
higher interest rate consumer credit products (43.3%).
Income is also a huge factor in the wealth gap.
In Ohio the average household income for a White American
family is $54,200 while the average household income for a
Black American family is $29,000. This household income
disparity holds true for Lucas County where the average
household income for a White American family is $50,700
while the average household income for a Black American
family is $22,700.
In 2016, 26% of White Americans received inheritances, while
only 8% of Black Americans received inheritances. Obtaining
education is a means to accumulating wealth individually,
however, the byproducts of systemic racism can even pose a
challenge to this basic freedom. Closing the wealth gap
between Black and White Americans will take investing in
entire communities.
The latest Census Survey data shows this by highlighting
that the median net worth of a White American family with
no bachelor’s degree is $98,100, while the median net
worth of a Black American family with a bachelor’s degree is
$68,200.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Investing in the neighborhoods with the most need and in
well-constructed Opportunity Zones are key components to
revitalizing communities. Instead of investment, we find
that community hubs like the Frederick Douglass Center have
been abandoned at worst or have garnered inconsistent
support, at best. The work needed to revitalize other higher
need neighborhoods to be economically sustainable has been
unfunded. In thriving communities, transferring wealth from
one generation to another is seamless.
Businesses are at the center of thriving communities; this
was on display during the height of the Dorr Street
Corridor. Businesses should be in neighborhoods. There is a
need to rebuild the small business backbone in the Black
community through innovative means like business incubators
and an investment in technology.
The first business incubator in the US began in 1959, and
they rose in popularity in the 90s. Businesses such as,
Dropbox and Air BnB, have benefitted from being a part of
business incubators in their early days. When starting a
business incubator, we must have all the elements to help
participants succeed and scale. Some of those elements
include research and determining viability of business,
business development, mentorship, funding, and team
development.
Established programs and organizations that are fixtures in
the Black Entrepreneurial Community
like Assets Toledo,
the Port Authority, the Toledo Urban Credit Union,
University of Toledo's Minority Business Development Center
and University of Toledo's Minority Business Assistance
Center Program
should have the adequate funding to assist everyone who
needs help. Financial education at places like
the Financial Opportunity Center and
Premier Bank (formerly First Federal Bank) should be
leveraged for future entrepreneurs and businesses to gain
sound financial footing.
Innovative new programs like Jumpstart and Afro-Tech
initiatives need room to grow and be embraced to propel
Toledo to become a hub for Black technology businesses and
investments in technology.
Investing into a business takes time, expertise, most
importantly capital. Historically, Black businesses have an
incredibly hard time accessing capital. Investing in Black
businesses is not only impactful to the entrepreneurs and
the Black Community, but to the overall markets. The most
recent census data shows that 28.79% of small businesses are
minority owned and 9.35% black owned. In Ohio 13.56% of
small businesses are minority owned and 8.97% black owned.
In Lucas County and Toledo, 17.58% and 25.67% of businesses
are minority owned. From 2007-2012 the number of minority
small businesses grew 38%, showing that these businesses
have the resilience to grow during economic downturns even
though 80% of black small business owners state that access
to capital is their largest business challenge. The current
Toledo capital landscape includes Community Development
Financial Institutions, Super Regional Banks, Community
Banks, Credit Unions, The Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority
and The Ohio Development Services Agency (ODSA) Minority
Business Development Division (MBDD). Each one of these
entities has a role to play to support the Black community
and Black entrepreneurs. They could create a new loan fund
specifically for entrepreneurs of color or for businesses
which hire primarily people of color. A fund like this could
provide loans (average size $50,000 to $150,000) to
businesses which cannot secure conventional bank financing.
There is also a need for
local funding/venture capital pitch opportunities and small
business loan opportunities geared towards or inclusive of
black business owners.
A community-wide push to increase deposits and enhance the
offerings at the Toledo Urban Federal Credit Union, would
allow them to become more impactful business lenders to the
community and deploy those funds in the forms of more small
loans to the people and businesses that need them.
Larger financial institutions should leverage their
Community Reinvestment Act dollars to support underserved
communities and Community Development Financial Institutions
to ensure that there is the appropriate access to capital.
For Black Americans who do not want to pursue their own
businesses but would like to pursue the American dream by
earning a living wage and having successful careers working
for a business or a governmental entity, pipelines into high
wage-earning careers & trades need to be highlighted.
Pipelines into professions & trades should be available to
all Americans. However, for Black Americans, discrimination
and historical injustice have created significant barriers
to opportunities. Pathways should not only be into education
institutions but also into trades. In research from Strata
Institute, revealed that 43% of college graduates from
2010-2017 worked in jobs that did not require a degree.
Focusing on career pathways that lead to a living wage and
low debt is key.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statics, 56% of African-
Americans find themselves in supportive roles rather than
directive roles compared to 43% of the general population
being in supportive roles as opposed to directive roles. In
2016 the median estimated annual income for a person in a
directive role was $68,914 compared to $32,232 in a
supportive role. Initiatives are needed that highlight
career choices for Black Americans at an earlier age and
promoting programs and educational choices that focus on
mentoring Black American students like University of
Toledo’s Excel and Historical Black Colleges and
Universities. Investments in career education and awareness
can ensure that the pathways that members of the Black
American community choose are pathways to careers that help
with the progression up the socio-economic ladder.
SUMMARY
Here are the key points of our Economic Justice Pillar:
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Invest in plans that truly change neighborhoods and that
are created with the neighborhood voice (not just
created about the neighborhood). An example of this type
of plan is the Junction Plan.
-
Establish neighborhood based Black Business/
Entrepreneurship Incubators (example location-Frederick
Douglass Center).
-
Substantially invest in Community Banks and in funding
their economic empowerment programs and capital to
provide loans to people and businesses in underserved
communities. Increase access to capital for black
businesses.
-
Establish and ensure that there is a continuum of
pathways into professions & trades.
-
Establish teen & college entrepreneurship exposure
programs, promote HBCU (Historical Black Colleges &
Universities) education and support youth pipeline
programs into high paying professions (Example pipeline
programs: NSBE Jr. Chapters (National Society of Black
Engineers, for engineering) and ACAP-Ohio (Ohio’s
Accounting Careers Awareness Program
presented by the National Association of Black
Accountants, The Ohio Society of CPAs and The Ohio State
University’s Fisher College of Business).
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