Jesse Binga, the tenth child of a barber and serial entrepreneur, was born in Detroit in 1865. Throughout his life, he was inspired by his mother’s entrepreneurial spirit. She worked as a housing developer, constructing “Binga Row” houses in the city’s slums. Binga eventually dropped out of high school to work as a barber apprentice with his father. Before setting out to make his own mark in the world, he also worked for a Detroit attorney.
He moved to California and began working as a Pullman porter. He arrived in Chicago in 1893 to attend the World’s Fair. He wasn’t rich, but he decided to stay in Chicago after the fair. He worked odd jobs for a few years before starting his own real estate company.
He threw himself into his work and was quoted as saying, “Well, I’m going to give it a fair test, and if integrity counts for anything, I’ll win. I felt that only prejudice could beat me and I determined that if it did beat me I would go to South America and start life in one of those republics where a man’s color is not his crime.”
Binga, as a realtor, would buy run-down properties and repair, renovate, and maintain them himself. Because of the influx of African-Americans from the south, he was able to rent out his properties at a premium. In 1905, he signed a long-term lease on the Bates apartment building, resulting in a mass exodus of his all-white tenants, a practice known as Blockbusting.
He eventually married Eudora Johnson, a relative of the city’s gambling kingpin, John “Mushmouth” Johnson. Eudora inherited $200,000 when John Johnson died in 1907. Binga was doing so well with his endeavors at the time that he decided to open a business.
Binga established a private bank primarily for African-Americans in 1908, as other banks frequently excluded them. The bank was the first in the north to be owned and run by an African-American. Other black-owned businesses were able to establish themselves in the area as a result of his bank.
When the Great Migration arrived, Binga became even more popular because he could help the black community, which had previously been discriminated against. Binga obtained a state charter for his bank and established The Binga State Bank in 1921.
Binga’s ambition and impulsive personality, on the other hand, were not universally admired. The stock market in the United States crashed in 1929, kicking off the Great Depression. Nonetheless, Binga continued to build a luxurious $325,000 five-story office building with a roof-top ballroom known as the Binga Arcade. Despite his best efforts, he was unable to revitalize the area.
Binga had intended to open a new bank, but he was unable to secure funding. He was eventually able to obtain financial assistance, but Illinois state officials demanded an additional $400,000 in cash payments. Binga then turned to the Chicago Clearing House Association for help because his bank was a member, but he was quickly turned down. Despite having substantial assets, Binga was unable to liquidate them immediately; the bank’s assets were too heavily invested in mortgage loans to black churches and fraternal societies, and many of these clients had become insolvent. Binga refused to seize the properties, and the State of Illinois Auditor General closed his bank in June. Binga lost everything, as well as many of the depositors.
Binga was investigated after the bank was closed, and criminal charges were filed. In March 1931, he was charged with embezzlement and sentenced to ten years in prison. The ruling sowed discontent in the community. The majority of people believed that racism contributed to the bank’s failure. Binga’s attorney, Clarence Darrow, attempted to persuade a parole board hearing for his early release.
Binga’s wife passed away in 1933. When he was released from prison, he was given a $15-per-week janitorial job. He lived in poverty for the rest of his life. Binga always maintained his innocence in the affair, and he was later pardoned by the state’s governor, Dwight H. Green, in 1941. Binga passed away on June 13, 1950.