According to Forbes, Robert F. Smith believes that big banks and major companies should spend the next 10 years investing directly in technology, education, telecom, banking and healthcare infrastructures that support Black communities.
“If you think about structural racism and access to capital, 70% of African American communities don’t even have a branch, bank of any type.”
Smith encountered structural racism in banking firsthand during the coronavirus pandemic when he tried to assist Black businesses and banks that help Black communities obtain Paycheck Protection Program loans.
“The deprivation of capital is one of the areas that creates a major problem to the enablement of the African American community,” Smith explained to the more than 200 top philanthropists who attended the 9th annual Forbes philanthropy summit, which was held on Zoom this year.
Smith’s proposal would be a private-sector solution to reparations, and he says the 2 percent funds from the major companies could be used to execute things like strengthen healthcare infrastructure in Black communities, equalize broadband access, fund STEM education at historically Black colleges and digitize Black small businesses.
