White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy

by Tom Schaller

The bad news is that the share of rural African American, Latino, and Native American–owned businesses is far lower than their national population shares.[24] Led by Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine and Mississippi Republican Roger Wicker, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators has twice introduced the Reaching America’s Rural Minority Businesses bill, which would authorize the Department of Commerce to establish small-business training centers at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) designed specifically to stimulate small-business development among rural minorities.[25] Unfortunately, the bill hasn’t come anywhere near a floor vote.