Inflation and Poor Economy, Not Racism, Harm Minorities: Entrepreneur

Alfredo Ortiz, president and CEO of Job Creators Network. Courtesy of Alfredo Ortiz

After testifying at the congressional Ways and Means Committee hearing titled “Overcoming Racism to Advance Economic Opportunity” in April 2022, Alfredo Ortiz, president and CEO of Job Creators Network, was so annoyed that he wrote a book.

The cover of Alfredo Ortiz's new book, "The Real Race Revolutionaries: How Minority Entrepreneurship Can Overcome America's Racial and Economic Divides." Courtesy of Alfredo Ortiz

“They were saying that racism was keeping the economic and racial divide in this country going,” Ortiz told The Epoch Times. “And I said, I don’t understand why that is, because I think entrepreneurialism actually is helping alleviate a lot of that.”

During that hearing, Rep. Stacey Plaskett, a Democrat from the Virgin Islands, said she was troubled by rhetoric that didn’t acknowledge that many U.S. policies had racist intent and multigenerational consequences.

“To say that each one of us, because we were strong enough and able enough and had great structures behind us, or individuals or people behind us for us to be where we are today, does not mean that those who are not, did not try. That is inappropriate,” Plasket said during the hearing. “The fact that we would think that because other people are unemployed, it’s because they’re lazy, or other people do not have the opportunities, and have not done as much, is because they don’t want it, that they’re relying on government—come on. We’re not that special here.”

Through Job Creators Network, which advocates for small businesses, Ortiz says he has seen many minority groups enter small business and thrive. His own parents—who came to the United States from Mexico—worked hard, his father as a tailor and his mother as a housekeeper.

Inspired by their work ethic, Ortiz started two businesses.

“I’ve seen it firsthand. I’m a minority,” Ortiz said. “Starting a small business completely changed my life. But the reaction that the Democrats had, I thought was interesting. They were not at all favorable to my perspective and, in fact, were belligerent, and it just gnawed on me for months until I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to write a book.’”

The result is his first book, released this week, titled “The Real Race Revolutionaries: How Minority Entrepreneurship Can Overcome America’s Racial and Economic Divides,” with a foreward by Bernie Marcus, co-founder of The Home Depot and Job Creators Network.

Entrepreneuriship Better Than Activism, Ortiz Says

In the book, Ortiz recounts seeing a children’s book titled “Sylvia and Marsha Start a Revolution,” with two minority women on the cover. Amazon.com described it as a playful introduction to transgender identities, telling the story of the transgender women of color who fought for LGBT equality.

“The moral of this story and so many others like it: kids, especially minority kids, should pursue social activism and ‘revolution’ to make the world a better place,” Ortiz wrote in his book. “My thought was: Why can’t this book be Sylvia and Marsha Start a BUSINESS, and feature a tale of entrepreneurship? Starting a business is the real revolutionary act that minorities can take to empower themselves and their communities. Entrepreneurship can bring financial independence and hard-earned confidence. In fact, minority entrepreneurship is a far better vehicle to overcome racial and economic divides than activism.”

Ortiz says this is the message kids need to hear.

“These days in America, racism is sporadic, not systemic. Racism is universally viewed as one of the worst characteristics a person can have. Activists invoke it so often because it is such an effective cudgel,” he says in his book. “They have succeeded in implementing a Catch-22: to argue against systemic racism is, in itself, racist! This trap is one reason why the fiction that racism is the cause of racial inequality has been able to fester. Few are brave enough in this environment to argue against it.”

Hard Work Over Forced Equality

Progressives love equality, Ortiz says.

“Its like, everybody’s got to be equal. It doesn’t matter if you work hard or if you don’t work hard, everybody’s equal,” Ortiz told The Epoch Times. “Well, I believe in the good old American Dream where hard work actually means something. My mom taught me that. My dad taught me that that. If you work really hard, you can achieve anything you want, especially in this country.”

In his research, Ortiz found that minorities overall are more entrepreneurial than non-minorities, perhaps because the payoff for starting a business in the United States is greater than in other countries.

“In socialist countries, there’s a high likelihood that, if your small business is successful, the government may take it from you,” Ortiz said. “So their youth probably questions, ‘Why am I going to put my heart and soul into a business? It’s just going to be taken over by the government.’”

Plus, there is a higher rate of business start-ups failing in other countries, where a failed business is an almost shameful thing.

“It’s almost a disincentive,” he said. “Here, in America, it’s like, ‘Alright! You try that. You go for it!’ Entrepreneurialism just rules. It doesn’t matter if you tried and failed, but that you tried.”

Minorities thrived under President Donald Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Ortiz said.

“The two biggest things it did was lower taxes and lowered regulations for small business owners. That just created a massive boom,” Ortiz said. “If you look at median income, for example, in 2019 for black households, income rose almost 8 percent; more than 7 percent for Hispanics; 11 percent for Asian Americans; and 6 percent for whites, so minorities did exceptionally well.”

That data is from the annual report of the Council of Economic Advisers.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican, was named chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday. In the past, Smith promised to make expiring tax provisions in the Tax Cut and Jobs Act permanent if he were to lead the committee.

Small Business Concerns

The Job Creators Network polled small business owners about their biggest concerns, and racism was not on the list. As of August 2022, inflation was the biggest concern, followed by the economy/client spending; general operating costs; supply chain disruption; gas prices; and available workers.

The best thing lawmakers can do to help minorities and non-minorities alike is to get out of the way of businesses, Ortiz said. The first step is get inflation under control by curbing government spending.

Job Creators Network supports a measure that would exempt all small businesses from new regulations unless the government can make a legitimate case for the regulation.