As a child growing up around Birmingham in the 1960s, I still remember my father taking me to the black-owned drugstore to get a jar of Duke hair pomade. I remember walking past the movie theater that would gladly accept our money and let us sit anywhere we wanted while the movie palaces downtown were not quite as welcoming.
Those were days when we, by necessity, owned our own businesses to service the needs of a community that all too often found itself shut out from the services and amenities afforded by white-owned businesses. That necessity eventually went away as laws and social change converged to make our money, if not always us as individuals, welcomed just about everywhere.
Undeniably, the change from the bad old days of segregation to this era of equal access is good, the way it should have always been. But somehow we lost something along the way. We lost that class of black entrepreneurs who were the backbone of the wealth and prosperity in our communities.
Equality Not Always Equity
African-Americans make up almost three-quarters of the population of the City of Birmingham. We make up almost a third of the population of the metro area. But when it comes to owning businesses, our numbers look a lot less impressive.
According to the most recent figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce, black-owned businesses make up a paltry 8% of all businesses in the metropolitan area. Even more disappointing, those businesses generate less than 1% of all revenues by area businesses.
When it comes to a black entrepreneurial class that serves as an economic and civic engine in our community – much as it does in places such as Atlanta, Chicago or Detroit – we continue to falter.
Kind of makes you wonder what’s been happening in the 40 years since the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Well, if you look at the numbers on economic empowerment, the answer is “not nearly enough.”
It’s not as if we haven’t made any advances in those four decades of equality by statute. The progress we’ve made politically is hard to ignore. There’s also a respectable representation of us in corporate offices in and around the city (even if the top jobs still remain largely elusive).
As Birmingham and the surrounding region stand at the brink of significant economic breakthroughs, I don’t see much hope that the situation will get any better soon.
Consider the current development boom – new residential developments seemingly spring up on every corner of Downtown, hope still flickers for a major expansion of the BJCC, and a world-class resort that promises to be a magnet to tourists from around the country is poised to open on the rolling hills south of the City. From what I see, African-Americans do not appear to be getting a fair share of the business coming from this boom.
First, Help Thyself
We could make the familiar and oft-repeated charge that the reason for this situation is racism, pure and simple. But to lean on that crutch alone without a thorough examination of what’s to blame and, more importantly, what to do about it, does a disservice to our people and flies in the face of what self-empowerment is all about in the first place.
The City of Birmingham is working on getting a study done that takes a hard and critical look at the issue of racial disparity with an eye to finding solutions that will get to the heart of the issue and find a way to deal with it. That study should go a long way in giving us information that will empower us.
But we don’t need another study for us to realize what we need to do as a people to build up the African-American business community in Birmingham.
As an enterprising African-American individual, think about getting out of your comfort level of a steady paycheck and expense account. Consider whether there is a dream you have always wanted to pursue and start making plans to make that dream come true. Talk to other business people about the pros and cons they considered before taking the plunge into self-employment.
Contact organizations that can help you get the answers you need to make good business decisions. Organizations like SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce are here to help. You’d be surprised how much informative help is out there for you, and most of it is completely free.
As African-American consumers, be as supportive of our entrepreneurial class as much as you can. In this busy world where time and money are at a premium, it’s not always practical to go across town for a product or service that, frankly, might cost you less at the neighborhood strip mall. But if a black-owned company is offering a superior service at a competitive price, we should make an effort to support those businesses and help them grow.
It’s easy to blame somebody else for our problems. But we have the power within ourselves to make life better for our families, our communities and ourselves. Are we going to get a fair share of the surge in economic activity around here? A large part of that answer rests with us.
Willie Chriesman is chairman of the African-American Business Council of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce. He owns a media consulting company, Chriesman and Associates. He can be reached at willie@chriesman.com. 
