In The Year After George Floyd s Murder, Beacon Hill Confronts Structural Racism
Rep. Chynah Tyler, U.S. Rep. Aynna Pressley and Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz appeared at a rally for police reform after the murder of George Floyd.
Mike Deehan / GBH News
In the year after George Floyd s murder, Beacon Hill put in place a new police oversight law and committed to a closer focus on racial issues, but the biggest change many see in the state capital has been a willingness across government to openly address structural racism. I think people are listening better, Roxbury Rep. Liz Miranda told GBH News near the anniversary of Floyd s killing by police in Minneapolis last year.
By Segun Idowu, Special to the Reporter
May 26, 2021
Segun Idowu, Special to the Reporter
In 2020, a Black community in Massachusetts that was on the rise got hit with increased public health, economic, and social challenges related to the Covid-19 pandemic and racial reckoning during the summer. These events, compounded by existing health disparities and a growing wealth gap, proved to be devastating to the growth of Black communities. If left unaddressed by urgent and bold action, the long-term effects will not just harm Black people, but also the well-being of other communities overall.
We know that these disparities aren’t new. In 2015, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston published its damning “Color of Wealth” report that highlighted Boston’s yawning racial wealth gap. Additional reports by groups like the Coalition for an Equitable Economy have reinforced the fact that entrepreneurs of color continue to face barriers, whether it be the dispersal of needed capital to
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Massachusetts is less than a week away from lifting its remaining COVID-19 businesses restrictions. But even as companies emerge from more than a year of immense losses and pandemic-induced rules, leaders in the local Black business community aren’t looking forward to a return to normal.
“Normal sucked; it wasn’t good for us,” says Samuel Gebru, the director of policy and public affairs for the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts.
That the Black community faced stunning economic disparities in the Boston area and across the country well before the pandemic due to historic discriminatory policies was no secret. But it holds ever more true for minority entrepreneurs; according to a report by The Boston Foundation last week, Black and Latino business owners were far less likely receive debt financing or access loans needed for their companies, in addition to being hardest hit by the pandemic.
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