In the study — which Fairlie said is the "first analysis of impacts of the pandemic on the number of active small businesses in the United States" — it was found that 41% of all Black businesses closed permanently between February and April.

According to the research, the number of Black business owners fell by 440,000 in just those three months, wiping out decades of hard work.

"African-Americans experienced the largest losses, eliminating 41 percent of business owners.

Latinx also experienced major losses with 32 percent of business owners disappearing between February and April 2020.

Immigrant business owners suffered a large drop of 36 percent, and female business owners suffered a disproportionate drop of 25 percent," he wrote, adding that 17% of white-owned businesses have closed.