Member-only story
How to Undermine Progress: The Disguised Agenda Behind “Non-Discriminatory” Lawsuits
Contemporary Legal Actions Threaten to Widen Economic Disparities Among Racial Groups in America
Motivation
One of my consulting friends just got his Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) certification. He lost his job a few months ago due to organizational politics and a bit of his mistakes. Consequently, he was ecstatic about the certification because he had decided to branch out and sell his decades of experience in a specialized field. He now has a means of paying his bills and feeding his family.
DBE certification, for him, means that when a white-owned company wants to get a federal contract, he and his team can get about 15% of the contract budget and work. He knows that white-owned companies only add DBE participating companies and consultants to get qualified for transportation-related federally-funded contracts. However, he may need to learn that they often don’t give much work and spend much of the budget on the DBE participants. Besides, I have dealt with many companies whose DBEs were white women’s companies, sometimes owned by their wives or family members.
Further insult, even white women are often relegated to secretarial tasks like…
