Helen Redding is a Waterloo entrepreneur, business owner and and strong woman of faith. Over the past several years, after opening her salon, Helen has created multiple other businesses with her husband and children.

Going to a bank to get a loan should be an easy process if you have everything ready to go. Getting that loan from a bank, especially when you have business experience, good credit, and references, and proven success should be an easy process, and most banks will tout how easy it is to qualify for a loan too.

Unfortunately, even with advanced qualifications, Black Americans are twice as likely to get denied a loan. Systemic racism has busted the racial wealth gap wide open, and predatory lending practices perpetuate the gap. 

I own and operate several successful businesses in the community, yet when I went to the bank for a loan, I could only get half of what I requested. That’s setting us up to fail, especially when our records show we are good for it. Other banks I sought out simply wouldn’t help at all. My credit score was never an issue—but racism was, and is. 

Corporate greed and predatory lending and banking practices leech off of Black and brown people daily. Meanwhile, U.S. Representative Ashely Hinson supports big corporations and profits over people, which further leads to favors for big banks that practice predatory and discriminatory lending.