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“Minority” Programs Keep Us Fighting Over Fifteen Percent -- February 2003
What about the 85% of the contracting, the employment, the development, and the tourism dollars? Who gets that? And, what entitles them to get it? You have probably heard the term “economic inclusion” being bantered about lately, so here’s another question while we’re at it. Who is doing the including? Who are they including? How does a public project, or one funded with public dollars, come under the authority of a white contractor or developer who, in turn, has the right to “include” a certain percentage of “minorities?” Why is it that white men, for the most part, are always the ones doing the “including” and “minorities” are always the ones being included, to the tune of an average of 15% of the pie? Isn’t it amazing that we continue to fall for the games people play on us? In my hometown, a disparity study (Croson Study) stated very clearly that Black people and other groups had been discriminated against via city contracting opportunities. What happens? Well, the city council voted to implement a “race-neutral” program, laced with a few small percentage goals, to make up for past discrimination. Mind you, the problem was based on race, but the solution was race-neutral.x0Dx0A x0Dx0AWe have all sorts of “minority” programs that call for goals, aspirations, goods intentions, hopes, wishes, and have encouraging words attached to them. However, they all center on a relatively small percentage of a particular project; that 15% (a little more in some cases) is designated for a so-called minority group. Now check this out. The designated minority group, sometimes comprising as many as five or six individual groups, collectively, often has greater numbers than the so-called majority that is given the right to “include” minorities in public projects.x0Dx0A x0Dx0ADoes this make sense to you? Does it make sense for Black people to, first, allow ourselves to be called “minorities” and then allow a group of white men to dominate and control our tax dollars to the point that we end up fighting for 15%? Why are we competing with other groups for the “minority” share of our tax dollars and allowing the other 85% to escape into the hands of white men? x0Dx0A x0Dx0AMaybe we should look at the percentages of population or the aggregate number of “minorities” in various areas, and base our economic inclusion efforts on that. Once again, I draw your attention to my hometown. We are building the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center for more than $100 million. The “goal” for minority inclusion is 25%. The Black population is nearly 50% and Hispanics and Asians comprise between 5%-7%.x0Dx0A x0Dx0AFirst of all, the last time I read my history, the players in the Underground Railroad in Cincinnati, Ohio were Black folks and white folks, not “minorities.” I never learned about a Chinese person swimming or walking across the Ohio River, or a Latino person, or a person from India or Pakistan participating, either by running from slave-catchers or helping slaves escape. That being the case, why then are “minorities” the focus of the Freedom Center’s Economic Inclusion Program? And where is the rule that says white men and women must always be the ones who determine how much everyone else will get? The same thing applies when it comes to other minority programs. Black people are the ones who were discriminated against, but everyone else has stepped up to get the benefits of our pain and suffering. We’re gettin’ played, y’all!x0Dx0A x0Dx0AWhile we are scrambling to get our share of the 15% allotment, others are getting the 85% without the slightest problem. And to make it even worse, Black people have to comply with so-called minority set aside regulations and horrendous “certification” programs to get their share of such a small piece of the pie. How can you call me and treat me “special” and make me jump through five hoops to get a contract while white men don’t have to jump through any hoops, yet they get the lion’s share of public funds and development opportunities? They keep our attention diverted toward 15% and they get away with 85% in the process.x0Dx0A x0Dx0AI can hear the detractors now, saying, “What about the fact that Black people do not have the professional and business capacity to perform even if they were given a greater percentage.” While it’s true there are far too few Black businesses, whose annual receipts are far too low, that fact makes the case for more “access” to opportunity, information, education, and capital. It makes the case for Black businesses to form partnerships, mergers, and alliances to capture a larger share of the proverbial pie. It makes a case for those in control to spend some of that 85% on the things that will enhance the opportunities for Black business development. (Maybe that’s what George Bush means by that nonsensical term “affirmative access,” no doubt following in his father’s footsteps, or missteps, when he coined the term, “A thousand points of light.”) x0Dx0A x0Dx0ABrothers and sisters, let’s stop fighting over a share of the 15% set aside for “minorities,” and start fighting for more of the 85%.x0Dx0A
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