Closing the Wealth Gap is a Social Justice Imperative for African Americans

As a black man representative of our black community, our economic inequality is killing us: or more accurately, allowing us to be killed.  Today the news and my timeline are filled with the story of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed by Minnesota police officers.  I wish that I was able to write that this was an isolated incident, but it isn’t; and for that reason, I’m compelled to pen this letter.  Mr. Floyd is the latest in a long list of black men being unapologetically slain for being black.  As I read the questions being asked about why this continues to happen and why white people (and non-white police) feel empowered to commit these heinous acts, the knee-jerk answer remains the entitlement created by the current President and lack of consequence protected by local legislators.       

While I believe this fuels the fire and fans the flames, I also believe the answer is a lot deeper.  I believe the answer can be found in an excerpt from a recent Pew Research Center report released January 9, 2020.

One reason for the concern is that people in the lower rungs of the economic ladder may experience diminished economic opportunity and mobility in the face of rising inequality, a phenomenon referred to as The Great Gatsby Curve. Others have highlighted inequality’s negative impact on the political influence of the disadvantaged, on geographic segregation by income, and on economic growth itself.

It is in the line, “Others have highlighted inequality’s negative impact on the political influence of the disadvantaged…,” that leads us to the true answer.  Our limited resources have not allowed us to establish political influence.  Without political influence, we are left to the mercy of those who readily wield it.  Unfortunately, those individuals don’t look like me.  If this is indeed our reality, it becomes imperative we close the wealth gap immediately; our lives literally depend on it.   

We must immediately and unapologetically work together to grow the wealth of our community and establish political influence.  A second Pew Study found Philadelphia’s population is 43 percent African American, but we only account for 2.5 percent of the businesses.  We most urgently need to reduce our spending and engage in activities that grow wealth: establish businesses, purchase and own real estate, create intellectual property, and invest in stocks and bonds.  To achieve this goal, we must support one another.  Understand, this is not a clarion call to blindly support black business, this is cry to embrace our excellence.  We must hold each other to a higher standard and support one another to reach it.

Greatness is in each and everyone of us.  We must take back our lives.     

I am recommitting my skills and experience to support the development and growth of black-owned businesses in the Philadelphia region and beyond.

I am my brother’s keeper!

Sincerely, 

Atif Bostic, CEO of Leadership in Business