Wind at my Back or in my Face?

A good friend who happens to be white shared with me that he has worked hard to achieve the American Dream. He wanted to understand what makes him different from a Black person. Don’t we all have personal agency? The answer is yes. Personal agency is the idea that we have control over our own destiny, that we have free will and can make choices, and those choices will dictate our level of success. We all believe that hard work is a necessary condition to success. If you don’t have personal agency, you are likely not to achieve very much in your own right, even if you have a silver spoon handed to you.

For any race to the top, some will run faster than others, train harder, have better running shoes, or possess more raw talent. That is OK. What’s not OK is our collective failure to give everyone access to the starting line. In the financial world, the starting line is access to capital, whether it’s to buy a home or car, start or scale a business, or pay for an education.

Another white friend, very successful by almost any measure, explained that he himself grew up poor and though he has come a long way, it is doubtful that he would have achieved that level of success if he were not white. Why?

Systems are designed to help, hurt or maintain the status quo. In the world of banking, there is a long history of systems that keep people with the greatest need from accessing capital to pursue dreams and achieve upward mobility. Those on the losing end are more likely to stay put unless we all change our behavior and expect more from each other and from our financial institutions.

Not too long ago, an African American male in his 40s reached out to me because he had been denied a loan from his local bank. He "wanted my advice" on how best to position to be successful the next time. It had long been a vision of his and his wife of nearly 10 years to own a small business, which would initially start off as a side hustle. After spending five minutes chatting with him about the purpose of the loan, how much he thought he needed, his credit score (above 700), and his debt-to-income ratios, I was shocked that he was not approved! I abruptly ended the conversation and told him that I would have one of our leaders of Community and Economic Development from Midwest BankCentre reach out to discuss his situation. He said, "I don’t need any favors, I just wanted to chat and get some advice." I assured him that I am not in the business of doing favors with money that isn’t mine. Rather, I am in the business of extending opportunity and doing the job that banks were established to do for all people.

This Black man had personal agency, was in the middle class, and doing all the things that society expects of him. What about the system is so flawed that he was denied?

In September 2020, personal finance website WalletHub compared the median TransUnion credit scores of residents in 2,572 U.S. cities to come up with a list of top and bottom performers when it comes to credit worthiness. East St. Louis, Ill. tied for the least credit-worthy city in the U.S., with a median credit score of 552. Why does this matter? Because people can’t access reasonably priced credit. When life happens, it hurts them so much more. It becomes financial quicksand and a downward spiral.

It’s not too much to ask our financial institutions to do more. It’s not too much to expect every financial institution to ensure that all citizens and all neighborhoods have access to capital. It’s not too much to revisit our own decisions by doing business with banks that open the starting line to all.

Earlier this year, Midwest BankCentre launched a program that will lend up to $200 million in community development loans for the next five years. The loans will be available for minority small business owners or businesses located in low-to-moderate income areas, and the majority will be deployed locally.

I believe economic mobility impacts everything  from ideas to business ownership, from justice to education, and from health access to propensity for disease. Each one of us can drive the change, and the more who do, the bigger the ripple effect. If we the people truly want to see systems change, then we must bank our values. If we believe everyone deserves a place on the starting line, everybody deserves a chance to build financial security, and every neighborhood deserves to thrive, then we should put our money where our heart is. We shouldn’t just think about it. Let’s put our capital to work with banks that work in the communities that need it most.