African American Business Group JEEPAC Meets with Republican Brian Kemp; Discusses Common Goals and Differences
The Atlanta-based group representing thousands of black professionals and small business owners has met with Georgia's Republican nominee for governor, Brian Kemp, as part of its previously announced endorsement hearings with both candidates. Democrat Stacey Abrams has yet to respond.
ATLANTA, Aug. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Justice Equality & Economics, better known as JEEPAC, announced today that it has held a successful meeting with Brian Kemp, the Republican Party's nominee for Governor of Georgia. The discussion centered on the economic challenges facing the black community including lack of access to capital, discrimination in contracting policies and lack of protections to bolster African American owned businesses.
In the meeting, both Kemp and JEEPAC agreed on the need for a vibrant business climate for black businesses. JEEPAC, however, stressed additionally the need for specific policies and protections designed to boost African American owned businesses in particular—something JEEPAC contends is necessary given that African American owned businesses have been discriminated against for decades. In response, Kemp indicated he is open to review policy for socially and economically disadvantaged business.
Though JEEPAC believed the meeting with Mr. Kemp to be productive, the organization is holding back from issuing any endorsement at this time. JEEPAC reminded Kemp that the GOP has ignored the black vote for years and that the Democratic Party has spoken only to social issues rather than to economic issues facing African Americans.
Every day, we meet with black professionals representing businesses ranging from corner stores to Fortune 500 companies. All of them both small and large tell me they are not satisfied with Stacey Abrams," said Omar Ali, President of JEEPAC.
Stacey Abrams continues to take the black community, particularly black business people, for granted. Georgia is home to the largest community in the country of black business people, entrepreneurs, and job creators. Our next governor must understand and respect this community. When black businesses thrive, our people thrive. When our businesses thrive, we will gain more power politically and thus can truly remedy systemic issues of abuse in the justice system and elsewhere. When our businesses thrive, we can start to fix the abysmal wealth disparity that exists between African Americans and the rest of this country. We can then truly integrate our communities and our schools creating a new generation of black leaders. We find it troubling that Stacey Abrams does not seem to understand this but the community continues to stand ready to educate her on our points of view. At the request of our members and supporters, the community will continue to work with Brian Kemp and his team to incorporate their views into his platform. The community stand ready to do the same with Stacey Abrams if she so desires. In the meantime, we will continue to evaluate our options in the gubernatorial election and will make an endorsement at the appropriate time if our members so choose," Ali added.
Contact
Omar Ali
[email protected]
SOURCE JEEPAC
Share this article