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1 marked another victory in the ongoing war against the use of race-
and gender-based quotas by city and county governments. Responding
to a lawsuit filed by the Southeastern Legal Foundation, U.S. magistrate
judge Brent McKnight signed an order ordering Charlotte, N.C., to
abandon its "Minority and Women's Business Development"
contracting program in favor of one that is race- and gender-neutral.
The order also granted $300,000 in damages to the construction company
plaintiff that was discriminated against.
The case represents
yet another victory for the Atlanta-based foundation, which has
successfully gone to court to dismantle quota contracting programs
in Atlanta, Jacksonville, Nashville, and other cities over the past
two decades.
The latest
Charlotte ruling — and its requirement that the city adopt
a legal and effective race-neutral program — underscores a
fact that the noisy left-wing lobby doesn't want Americans to know:
Since the landmark 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision City of Richmond
v. Croson, not a single local race- and gender-based contracting
program has withstood court scrutiny. In the absence of evidence
showing that there is ongoing discrimination against minorities
and females within the local government contracting process, these
programs violate the equal-protection provision of the U.S. Constitution.
Justice Sandra
Day O'Connor, who wrote the 1989 Croson decision, laid out
the roadmap for states and localities. There are a number of constitutional,
race-neutral measures that governments can use, including
"[s]implification of the bidding procedures, relaxation of
bonding requirements and training and financial aid for disadvantaged
entrepreneurs of all races..."
The "disparity
studies" required, under U.S. Supreme Court case law, to justify
race-based programs have lacked compelling statistical data to confirm
ongoing discrimination in dozens of cities since 1989. In fact,
"experts" peddling their disparity-study "skills"
from city to city have all too often been exposed as simple hucksters,
who concoct quick, flawed "studies" and then collect an
obscene fee — courtesy of taxpayers.
The way to
help disadvantaged businesses gain access to the necessary tools
of the marketplace is not by defending an illegal program
— as was done in Charlotte and other cities. Rather, the answer
is to devise a legal and equitable program that will reach its intended
recipients and not just benefit well connected cronies of local
politicians. Since the Croson ruling, many cities —
from Detroit to New York — have bucked the race hustlers by
taking this responsible approach.
Detroit's preferences
system for public contracting were struck down as unconstitutional
in 1993. City leaders then established a local enterprise program
that set goals for local-business participation in city contracts
that were focused on geographic location, not race or gender. In
addition, the Detroit program also encourages small businesses to
participate. (Ironically, the city's legal program now enjoys higher
black participation than did the old, illegal program.)
Former New
York City mayor Rudy Giuliani presided over a race-neutral program
requiring government contractors who use subcontractors to employ
local firms for at least 10 percent of the contract. These small,
local firms are exempt from having to secure the payment and performance
surety bonds usually required of contractors, and receive help in
locating working capital.
The Associated
General Contractors — a national trade association for construction-related
firms that has long opposed race/gender set-asides — also deserves
praise. It operates an excellent mentoring program, the Stempel
Plan, to aid small contractors of all races. The goal of Stempel
is to match a small or new contractor with two older and larger
"mentor" firms. Each "protegee" firm can thus
be offered technical assistance and advice on bidding for contracts,
keeping the books, meeting government accounting standards, and
securing surety bonding and capital. The plan has been successful
in many cities and states, with the most exceptional standouts being
Portland, Milwaukee, and Kansas City.
Aggressively
implementing race-neutral public-contracting programs will move
states and localities one step closer to achieving a free and open
marketplace that offers true opportunity. Radical minority activists
and their allies — in the media, in city councils, and in state
legislatures — can only expect to face even more court defeats
if they attempt to go on treating American citizens differently
on the basis of their race.
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