What’s Going on With Black and Hispanic Women?

One question emerging from the presidential election exit polls is the disconnect between black men and women and Hispanic men and women.

Donald Trump received support from 21% of black men and 7% of black women, a disparity of 14 points. He got support from 54% of Hispanic men and 39% of Hispanic women, a disparity of 15 points.

There was also a disparity in Trump’s support among white men and women, but much smaller—7 points.

So why is Trump having far greater success among black and Hispanic men than black and Hispanic women?

It’s clear that the major issue that drove the vote in this election was the economy.

A Gallup poll done in October showed the economy as the number one concern of voters.

Per exit polling, 68% said the economy is “not good” or “poor” and 31% said it is “excellent” or “good.” Of the 68% saying the economy is not good/poor, 70% voted for Trump.

Per a Gallup poll published last March, 27% of black women under 60 said they are planning to start their own business in the next 12 months, compared to 14% of Hispanic women and 5% of white women.

In the same survey Gallup asked, “Would you be interested in starting a business if you had the resources?” Among black women, 57% said yes; among Hispanic women, 55% said yes; among white women, 38% said yes; 51% of all U.S. men and 44% of all U.S. women said yes.

The entrepreneurial aspirations of Black and Hispanic women are among the highest in the country.

Per Gallup, “while just 13% of men under 60 say they lack the financial and/or nonfinancial resources to start a business, a third of women in this age group (33%) say the same.”

Gallup continues that improving access of women to capital is important “when women-owned businesses still make up only 22% of employer businesses in the United States.”

I think that these entrepreneurial-driven black and Hispanic women should care a lot about a healthy and growing national economy. Nothing is more important for business success and raising capital.

I would urge these women to listen to a recent interview done with one of the country’s greatest entrepreneurs, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, done at The New York Times DealBook Summit.

Bezos has never been known as a conservative or among the backers of President-elect Donald Trump. He owns The Washington Post, which is a left-of-center paper.

However, in this interview, Bezos speaks positively about the election of Trump and specifically talks about the importance of deregulation to improving the economy. “He [Trump] seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation. … If I can help him do that, I’m going to help him.”

He also observes that our country “has the best risk capital system in the world … You can raise $50 million of seed capital to do something that only has a 10% chance of working.”

Bezos discusses his own experience, starting from nothing, building a business in a world of new technology and becoming one of the wealthiest individuals in the world.

He describes raising his first million dollars for Amazon by meeting with 60 venture capitalists, of whom 22 agreed to put up $50,000 each.

Bezos emphasizes that the way out of our economic problems is economic growth. And here he emphasizes the importance of deregulation and gives a vote of confidence to Trump.

So why, when there is such disproportionate entrepreneurial spirit among black women, did only 7% support the candidate who one of the nation’s most successful and legendary entrepreneurs says will deliver the economy the nation needs?

Certainly, black and Hispanic men are getting the message.

It’s time for black and Hispanic women to get it and start focusing less on identity politics and more on what experience tells us will work.

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