Black Business Owners Express Expectations for Biden-Harris Administration
By: Charlese Freeman
In September, Kamala Harris made her first stop in Philadelphia the West Oak Lane neighborhood. Residents and small business owners expressed their hopes and expectations for the Biden-Harris administration.
Paulette Beale is the owner of Paul Beale’s Flower Shop. The family-owned and Black-owned business has been located on Ogontz Avenue for almost 50 years. Beale was able to meet Senator Harris during her Philadelphia visit. She described Harris as warm and inviting.
Beale explained that she is confident that the Biden-Harris administration can successfully tackle several issues the country currently faces.
“I hope that they will get this pandemic under control. I hope they will take control of health care, social security, medical care and take control of this evil racism and bring calm back to the United States,” said Beale.
Harris addressed her administration’s plans at the Sister to Sister: Mobilizing in Action discussion during her visit in Philadelphia. The event was held in Councilwoman Cherelle Parker’s backyard.
Harris explained that her administration intends to address the systematic racism and disparities in a few areas like criminal justice, business and health care.
During the Sister to Sister event, Harris explained that 90% of Philadelphia businesses are small businesses, and almost half of that 90 percent are Black-owned. She stated the biggest issue when trying to nurture small businesses is the lack of capital.
“Access to capital is simply about giving people the ability to start up,” Harris said. “The ingenuity, the entrepreneurship, is already in the community. The access to capital is not.”
However, the PEW’s State of the City 2019 report stated Blacks own only 2.5% of businesses in Philadelphia. The report revealed that more than 3 out of 4 businesses were white-owned in 2016, and 1 in 40 were owned by African Americans.
Being in business for 49 years, Beale explained the changes she has seen to the small business scene in West Oak Lane.
“We’ve seen it [the neighborhood] go, come and go again. When we first moved here, it was a booming avenue, then it deteriorated and for a long time we were the only business still standing here on Ogontz,” said Beale.
Beale said she and her family considered moving but stayed because State Representative Dwight Evans revitalized the area, putting funding back into the businesses.
Businesses in other Philadelphia neighborhoods are also suffering as COVID-19 cases continue to rise. Tourists friendly areas like Old City have experienced a decline in the small businesses.
Younger small business owners also have high expectations for the presidential candidates. Nicole Swaayze works with her sister at Amazingly Natural, a small shop dedicated to natural hair care products. The shop also houses Swaayze’s cosmetic brand, Gunna Lashes.
Swaayze opened the doors of her business in August during the pandemic and has managed to make a profit from her customer clientele via social media. Swaayze was forced to apply for unemployment in September, after the retail store where she worked closed.
“Small businesses are not doing very well. People who have small shops are still afraid to come out because of the virus. He’s [Biden] acting more like a president than the president. We need money,” said Swaayze.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ recent report states that in November, 14.8 million persons reported that they had been unable to work because their employer closed or lost business due to the pandemic — that is, they did not work at all or worked fewer hours at some point in the last 4 weeks due to the pandemic. This measure is little changed from October.
In addition to aiding small businesses, the Biden- Harris administration said that it will build on Obama Care that would allow 20 million people with preexisting conditions to have affordable health insurance.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration plans to remove the Affordable Care Act and introduce an alternative health care plan.
“Give me more access to health care because a lot of people cannot get their hands on it,” said Swaayze.
Beale said she’s worried about the state of social security and medical care because the current administration is trying to eliminate payroll taxes. Beale also said that she hopes the Biden-Harris administrations can help ease racial tensions sweeping the nation.
“It’s not necessarily the president. It’s what he’s able to do and who he puts in charge. That’s where people get lost. They don’t see what he does behind the scenes, “said Beale. I don’t think they [Biden-Harris] can solve everything, but I think they will help.”
