Rainbow/PUSH Speaks Out: 'Why We Need Minority Dealers'

Several stories have been written over the past few weeks regarding GM and Chrysler making great strides to restructure their businesses in light of the economic climate. Unfortunately, minorities, who own less than 5 percent of new-car dealerships nationwide, have been severely affected by the market downturn just like majority-owned dealerships.

But somewhere along the way, a sense of history has been lost regarding minorities in the auto industry. It wasn't until early this decade that automakers began to make a concerted effort to allocate a handful of high-line import dealerships, like Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Lexus, Mercedes and Infiniti, to minority dealers. While we spend a fair share of our income flossing around in these brands, we've made small gains in actually having an ownership stake -- where the real money is made. Many of us have been giving domestic automakers a lot of flack during these troubled times, but they have been recognizing the need for minority-owned dealerships since the seventies.

Like Chrysler, GM finally announced late last week that 44 minority dealers were on its hit list and were scheduled to be close within the next 18 months. Unlike Chrysler, GM is being tight-lipped as to the breakout by ethnicity.

While minorities are expected to represent over half of the U. S. population by 2050, according to a number of statistical studies, the majority community has been slow to recognize this. Advocacy groups such as Rainbow/PUSH have been instrumental in making sure that automakers and other groups fairly represent America's diversity.

As a result of a recent blog post BV published about Chrysler's minority dealers crying foul, we decided to reach out to Glenda Gill, who oversees the Rainbow/PUSH office in Los Angeles, where a number of import automakers are based. We wanted to get five reasons from Gill detailing the need for minority-owned dealerships. Here's what she had to say:

1. We are more than just the drive. We can be entrepreneurs as well and should have a mutually beneficial, reciprocal trade relationship.

2. Ethnic minorities represent 22 percent of the auto-buying public and the population continues to rise. We must be represented under America's big tent. How can cars be sold to a market that is for the most part marginalized?

3. It gives minorities the ability to be business owners on an even playing field. Some of us as workers and some even as business owners. We deserve the chance as much as anyone else to have our own business. When we do have the chance at ownership, we employ about 60 percent minorities.

4. We're three times more likely to hire from our own community. We also become the major contributor of philanthropic traditional and nontraditional community causes and organizations, such as a church building fund, little league games and urban literacy projects, that otherwise would not be funded.

5. When there is a downsizing, ethnic communities feel the impact disproportionately -- mostly because we are usually the victims of "last hired, first fired." We also tend to have dealerships in low-traffic locations, are underfunded and have a lack of resources to keep our businesses afloat.

Give us your thoughts. Do you think that in the midst of this economic turmoil minorities should have more of an ownership stake? Or should we subscribe to the philosophy of survival of the fittest?

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