Martin Luther King, Jr. once stated, “Every step towards [a] goal requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.” In starting a business, for example, one must remain determined amidst struggle and failure. Jennifer Lee rigorously explores this theme in her article, “Entrepreneurship and Business Development Among African Americans, Koreans, and Jews: Exploring Some Structural Differences,” by discussing the varying methods and struggles in building and maintaining a business among different ethnicities. The most fascinating aspect of this reading was Lee’s examination of the “awful circle” of disadvantage that African Americans face, economically, and more interestingly socially.
Lee begins by discussing the journey that Jews and Koreans faced to grow a business: “None of the first-, second-, or third-generation Jewish storeowners received bank or government agency loans to start their businesses,” and, “A language barrier, unfamiliarity with U.S. customs and culture, the inability to transfer educational and occupational credentials, and discrimination,” forced Jews and Koreans to rely on other sources of financial and social support (i.e. loans from family members, personal savings, etc). If African Americans had somewhat more access to government agencies, and did not struggle with language barriers, why are they at such a disadvantage? Lee first credits this disadvantage to a cycle of economic hardship. She writes that “once African-American networks became implanted in government jobs…that led other black New Yorkers to converge on public employment.” This low-paying public employment then resulted in a “relatively low degree of economic capital in their social networks.” This forced African Americans to start their businesses in low-income neighborhoods, where rent was more affordable. The African American business owners were consequently faced with frequent robberies and break-ins, and could not “afford the exorbitantly high rates that insurance companies demand[ed] from businesses located in “high-risk” zones.”
David Caplovitz itemizes the five main problems that African American businessmen face: “difficulty in procuring capital, difficulty in getting adequate training, an inability to secure prime business locations, lack of sufficient patronage, and finally, an inability to organize cooperative effort.” Thus, there is more to the cycle than just finances. The most shocking line in Lee’s article was: “African Americans would rather invest their money “outside of the community,” trusting whites over their own.” This is unfortunate, as it places African Americans at a severe disadvantage over their Korean and Jewish counterparts, both of whom rely heavily on other members of their respective communities. I think if there is more reliance on the community, African American businessmen will escape the awful cycle of disadvantage.
