BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — An ongoing issue in Kern County is dealing with the high unemployment rate in the Black community, sparking growing concern among community members who are struggling to find work and keep their businesses running.
Barrington Lewis knows first hand how it feels to be on the brink of unemployment but he channeled his passions through his culture and food.
Barrington Lewis said, "The business started when I got laid off from my job and I wanted to do something that I wanted to do whether I was getting paid or not."
Lewis, owner of Barrington's Jamaican Kitchen, first location was a tiny oasis on Ming Avenue. After a few hurdles, he has now reopened at the Brundage Lane Swap Meet but there have been challenges.
Barrington Lewis explains, "I started getting predatory loans where I started paying 300 dollars a day to pay back and got into trouble with that." In business for 7 years, he beat the odds as Black-owned businesses reported to fail within the first 2 years and 62% fail within the first 5 years.
According to the state employment development department, in Kern County every racial group tends to be high in employment.
However, one concern is that while the African American population is around 6 percent, it has an unemployment rate of 14 percent, which is far higher than the state average of 5 percent.
Barrington Lewis said, "Overall it was the lack of knowledge and excited about the cooking and all that stuff that the business end it concerned I was a little bit ignorant."
With social economic disparities such as difficulty getting loans, access to credit cards, and lower interest rates, according to Dr. Richard Gearhart, a CSUB economics professor, Trump's rollback on policies plays a factor in why Black-owned businesses have struggled.
Dr. Richard Gearhart said, "Unfortunately President Trump has rolled back some of those protections so we don't expand access to credit and they struggle to figure out where to open and it means the businesses just face bigger hurdles."
Even though Lewis's business was shut down four months ago, his passion and the community's support keeps him going.
Barrington Lewis said, "It's been tough trying to get back to normal and people are starting to find me my old customers are trying to come through and discover that I didn't go out of business completely."
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