President-elect Joe Biden said on Jan. 8 that his administration plans to prioritize minorities for access to resources needed to reopen and rebuild amid the ongoing CCP virus pandemic.
Biden added that his administration will focus on making “real efforts” to assist communities that “have faced systemic barriers to relief.”
He said a key focus of his administration will be to “correct the current administration’s failures to get relief to Main Street, small businesses that are most in need.”
“Mom and pop stores are the backbone of the economy,“ Biden said. ”They’re the glue that holds communities together.
“But today, more than one in four small businesses are not open. At least 400,000 are closed for good. As the month goes by, a third of black-owned businesses and more than a fifth of Latino-owned businesses and more than a quarter of Native American-owned businesses, have less than one month of reserves to cover expenses.
“Previous rounds of economic relief last year helped millions of small businesses stay afloat and keep employees in the payroll. But there were clear problems. Black and brown-owned small businesses had less access to that relief. Mom and pop shops were often the last in line, while big well-connected businesses jumped in front of the line and got more relief and got it faster.”
Biden’s latest statement on support for small businesses has been met with widespread criticism on social media, with many suggesting that the move will fuel divisiveness nationwide.
“Can we please just help Americans without further dividing us into competing subgroups?” Jon Gabriel, editor-in-chief of conservative news outlet Ricochet, said.
President Donald Trump’s campaign adviser Steve Cortes, meanwhile, accused Biden of “blatant prejudice.”
“This level of racism and sexism is impeachable if and when executed by a president.”
Biden is scheduled to be sworn in as 46th president of the United States on Jan. 20.
