ENTREPRENEURSHIP OFFERS BEST PATH TO RACIAL ECONOMIC EQUALITY, JOB CREATORS NETWORK PRESIDENT AND CEO ALFREDO ORTIZ EXPLAINS IN NEW BOOK

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — In an upcoming book that Dennis Prager calls one of his “favorite books of the last few years,” Job Creators Network President and CEO Alfredo Ortiz charts a path forward to racial economic equality through minority entrepreneurship.

“The Real Race Revolutionaries: How Minority Entrepreneurship Can Overcome America’s Racial and Economic Divides,” published by Defiance Press on January 10, 2023, demonstrates how and why minority entrepreneurship is closing racial economic divides. The book is a direct refutation of the popular narrative that more government programs and “anti-racist” policies, such as California’s current “reparations” effort, are needed to reduce racial economic inequality.

As Ortiz shows, capitalism and entrepreneurship are the true “anti-racist” forces because they reward merit, not skin color. Ortiz explains how only in America can people from any background of any skin color succeed, pointing to himself as Exhibit A. His book uses data to show that minorities are already overcoming racial economic divides through entrepreneurship, and defends America’s entrepreneurship advantage.

Hugh Hewitt, host of the Hugh Hewitt Show: “There is no organization in America that better defends small business owners and free enterprise than the great team at Job Creators Network. This new book, written by JCN’s president Alfredo Ortiz, brings together the best data and research on the causes of wealth gaps among and between racial and ethnic groups, and the very best way to close those gaps, which is entrepreneurship. It’s a great read, and a compelling case for small business.”

Dennis Prager, founder of PragerU and host of the Dennis Prager Show: “Alfredo Ortiz heads one of my favorite organizations, Job Creators Network. Now he has written one of my favorite books of the last few years. Small business creation, Ortiz persuasively argues, is the pathway to prosperity for Americans of any race or ethnicity. Ortiz reminds us that this has been true for all of our history. It remains the best path forward.” 

Bernie Marcus, co-founder of The Home Depot and founder of Job Creators Network: “In this book, Alfredo persuasively makes the case that the government must do less, not more, to allow minority entrepreneurs to achieve the American Dream and overcome racial economic disparities. Celebrating the stories and successes of minority entrepreneurs can generate the public support needed to defend the free-market economy against big government threats. These ordinary entrepreneurs are the heroes of modern-day America, even if they are frequently treated as villains by government officials who siphon their resources to fund their latest social policy aims. This book asks you to treat minority entrepreneurs with the respect they deserve, and to consider how bad public policy prevents them from surviving and thriving.”

Alfredo Ortiz, President and CEO of Job Creators Network: “This book is a defense of the unparalleled American small business economy that offers economic opportunities to people of all races and backgrounds. It explains how this minority economic advantage is unique to America and why it is threatened by bad public policy. To turbocharge racial economic equality, Americans must defend small businesses as cultural institutions.”

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. 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.

I bear the battle scars. In the spring of 2022, I testified in front of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee and argued that minorities can overcome racial economic gaps through entrepreneurship. This perspective was in stark contrast to the other witnesses, who claimed the government needed to increase income redistribution to minorities to make up for the racism holding minorities back.

My testimony, based on years of research and expertise as the leader of one of the nation’s largest small business groups, wasn’t received well by the Democratic members, to put it lightly. Stacey Plaskett, delegate to the House from the US Virgin Islands, said she was “troubled by the rhetoric” she was hearing and claimed that it was “inappropriate” to argue minorities can overcome their circumstances through entrepreneurship.

Similarly, a few weeks before my testimony, Dina Rubio, a Florida restauranteur and member of the Job Creators Network, testified before the House about the negative economic effects of government spending and regulations on her business. The hearing committee chair, Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), indicated that he was “disappointed” Rubio brought up this real-world problem, noting that he’d prefer to stick to supposed “structural” racial equity barriers facing entrepreneurs. 

To learn more about JCN, please visit www.jcnf.org.