Getting the story straight.

AS A LONGTIME SUBSCRIBER TO BLACK ENTERPRISE, I AM troubled by the news regarding black financial institutions and the state of black business in general.

I read that black banks are closing, merging, or downsizing. New black banks are not getting funding to start even though the startup capital should be easily raised. I read articles that say things like "there is no need for black banks. Why would a black bank need to be separate? The business model is flawed."

Yet BLACK ENTERPRISE continually has articles showing how the SBA and major banks do little or nothing to facilitate black entrepreneurship. I continually read about blacks begging for representation at major companies and being ignored--yet your magazine touts black buying power. Evidently blacks can consume all they want but [can't get a foothold when it comes to] community investment or business loans. You have ads for a few franchises but no direction on how to get funding.

I would like to see more in-depth articles on the nuts and bolts of creating companies of all sizes and ratings on all of the major commercial banks and their lending records to minority entrepreneurs, as well as a breakdown of which groups get what percent of the loans. I would like to see a graph that depicts black-owned businesses as opposed to Latino- and Asian- or Indian-owned businesses from the 10 major cities on the East and West coasts. I would also like to know how many shopping plazas and office complexes are owned by black people in these cities.

Clarence Frasier

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