BET co-founder says BLM pledges aren’t helping Black businesses

Robert L. Johnson, cofounder of BET and the first Black billionaire in the United States, says few Black workers and entrepreneurs are reaping the benefits of the billions of dollars that companies pledged following 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests.

“I can tell you, the Black community, entrepreneurs I know, are very disappointed with these, what I call, press-release announcements with no results,” Johnson said on “The David Rubenstein Show” in an interview that aired Wednesday.

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder by a police officer, dozens of major

U.S. companies promised money to racial-equity causes such as promoting Black businesses or improving diversity and representation within their own ranks. One analysis from The Washington Post found that about 90% of the almost $50 billion in funds pledged by 44 companies came in the form of loans and investments from which the firms could profit. Just around $4 billion – or around 8% – came in the form of outright grants.

“The sad secret of that is companies — white companies — have announced that they’re going to put millions of dollars into diversity, in terms of Black investment and business,” said Johnson, the chairman of RLJ Cos., an asset-management firm. “But among the people I know … it’s really not happening.”

Johnson stressed the need for an audit and for companies to be transparent with their progress. More firms have started to share data on workforce demographics, and some have reported making progress in hiring and promoting Black employees.

And venture capital funding for start-ups with Black founders slowed in the second quarter of 2022, after a record-setting year in 2021.