B. Maul Speaks

Over 81% of businesses are owned by White entities in the United States according to Rolling Out. The next 15% are owned by Asians and Hispanics.  That means that almost less than 5% of businesses are owned by Black people.  According to Fortune, Black people make up about 14% of the population and have around $1.2 Trillion in spending power.  But what this really means is that we are investing in other companies other than our own considering we only own about 5% of the business market. Why aren’t more Black people in business and when they are, why do they fail?

Justice is supposed to be blind and balanced, but there's a clear danger and bias against African Americans and other minorities due to the fact that racism is embedded in our politics, courts and legislation. The 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 are all under attack by a "conservative" Supreme Court under the idea that they are "racial entitlements". However, these three Civil Rights Acts are the legal foundation of the Civil Rights Movement that every American benefits from including women and individuals with disabilities and outlaws discrimination based on race, religion and national origin.

The pipeline to prison is a serious epidemic that is affecting our minority students. Unjustly punishing students for non-violent behaviors prevents them from attaining a quality education and keeps them out of school where they can become involved in ill activities. While we protect our students from school violence, we must not disparately impact our minority students who are at risk.