Obstacles to Financing Minority Enterprises.

N

85

Commission on Civil Rights, Washington, DC.

Banking; Black Businesses; Business; Credit (Finance); Government Role; Minority Groups; Racial Discrimination

In 1972, the District of Columbia Advisory Committee initiated an inquiry to determine the role that discrimination has played in limiting minority business enterprises in the Washington area. Meetings were held in which businessmen, representatives of technical assistance organizations, government officials, and bankers examined the question of whether, or to what degree, minority businessmen are denied loans, loan guarantees, and other forms of credit by the traditional money markets because of race. This report summarizes information obtained through interviews and from presentations during the open and closed meetings. Discussed are criteria for determining bank loans, minority businessmen's views of banks and the Small Business Administration (SBA), and the views of technical assistance personnel toward banks and the SBA. Bankers' responses to criticism levelled against their institutions are also presented. Approaches taken in various cities toward solving the financial difficulties of minority businessmen are outlined, as are legal approaches to the problem of discrimination in lending. The Advisory Committee's recommendations for preventing further discrimination are presented. Appended to the report are a petition directed toward Federal regulatory agencies, letters from District of Columbia banks regarding their lending policies, and statistical data on loans granted to black and Hispanic businessmen. (GC)

1980

ED179638