5, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age A4
WHERE DO WE OO FROM HERE?
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION COMMENTS
America Begs Japanese
For Affirmative Action:
End Of Jobs II
b \
P rof . M( K inlev B i
rt
After twenty years o f begging
and pleading for fairness and “Equal
Opportunity” in the Japanese mar
ketplace, the U.S. government is
boasting that it has at last gained a
number o f Set-Asides for its Minor
ity automotive business.
Thursday our newspapers and
television screens were tilled with
scenes o f happy, giddy owners and
employees o f importers o f Japanese
cars. Champagne flowed like our
dow ntow n fountains as Toyota,
N issan Mazda and Honda were said
to have agreed to specific Quotas
and set-asides in respect to the pur
chase o f auto parts and the produc
tion o f autos in America.
While it is true that autos and
car parts were responsible for half
the $66 billion U.S. Trade deficit
with Japan, it has not been made
entirely clear how the new roles and
guidelines will be enforced. Are we
to look forward to a decade o f argu
ing and bickering over Compliance
and D iscrim ination in the auto
place? Will there be a special court
set up to hear violations o f automo
bile rights? To monitor Equal Op
portunity?
Obviously, what we are saying
here is that “what is good for the
goose is in no way good for the
gander in America". The opponents
o f Affirmative Action for Human
Beings have screamed from the roof
tops that "America is no place to
expect special or favored treatment-
-all may come forward' in equality
and prosper in this great egalitarian
society . Racial minorities and wom
en should have no rights or privileg
es beyond their abilities to compete
in the marketplace". Irony o f iro
nies, the ultimate hypocrisy.
Right! L et's “come forward".
As one reader suggests, we should
begin with a blizzard ofjob applica
tions to those firms along Martin
Luther King Jr. Boulevard who have
never in anyone’s memory hired an
African American in any capacity.
B ut, w ho did m ost stre n u
ously o b je c t to the nam e chan g e
from “ U n io n A ven u e". A num
ber o f th e se e n te rp rise s have
(an d a re) p ro fitin g m ost m ag
n ific e n tly from fed eral funds
spent to “ e n h an ce the q u ality o f
life" in e c o n o m ic a lly d ep ressed
a re a s (fro m M odel C itie s to
p re se n t day U rban D e v e lo p
m ent). N ot to m ention a tax base
alm ost as favorable as th at b e
ing g ran ted to c o m p u te r chip
m an u factu rers.
The U.S. Supreme Court in its
infinite wisdom has called for a
“narrowly tailored" approach to af
firmative action, and, then, when
limited to a specific time period and
only as a “ last resort". Will that be
at the time o f your last stomach
cramp? The body's last gurgle?
In these times o f economic
downturn in most sectors, contin
ued layoffs coupled w ith failures o f
many employee pension plans, and
’he rapid increase in outsourcing
jobs to private contractors by both
industry and governmental agen
cies, we can expect an increasingly
competitive situation where “each
takes care o f his own” ...and the
devil takes the hindmost." At my
meetings with the Association of
Oregon Industries, business lead
ers speak openly of continued ef
forts to “boost the bottom line”.
Darwinian Sociobiology is here.
W h atever w ay this is a c
c o m p lish e d the real "b o tto m
line” is few er em ployees. The
ch allen g e to A frican A m erican
and H ispanic leaders is to d e
velop new and inn o v ativ e w ays
o f im p ro v ing the econom ic s ta
tus o f th e ir co n stitu e n c y . T he
la tte r g ro up seem to be doing
fairly w ell at ahis, but A frican
A m ericans can look forw ard to
“the M o th er o f All M arch es” on
W ash in g ton, D C. To be led by
w ho? Mr. C havis, the recen tly
d ep o sed leader o f the N A A C P
( “ I am th e f in a l a u th o r i t y
h e re !")? H is new o rg a n iz a tio n
needs p u b lic ity ...a n d m oney.
A m id all th ese z illio n s o f
black co lleg e g raduates we have
w o rk ed , bo rro w ed and begged
for to o b tain d eg rees, w here are
th o se e q u ip p ed for lead ersh ip
to a new econom ic Z ion? And
sp eak in g o f Z ion, w here are the
m in iste rs like the Rev. Leon
S u lliv an w ho took the $10 d o
n atio n s o f his P h ila d e lp h ia Mt.
Z ion B aptist C hurch and b u ilt
the w o n d erfu l “ O p p o rtu n itie s
In d u strialization C enters? Since
1969, they have p ro v id e d jo b s
and tra in in g for tens o f th o u
sands; A m erica and the w orld.
Affirmative Action
And The Workplace
b \
D eborah P rice
In the cu rren t debate over
whether the country still needs af
firmative action programs, at least
two crucial points are often over
looked : (1) affirmative action is just
beginning to work in a number o f
industries that have long been the
exclusive province o f white men,
and (2) affirmative action does not
seek to exclude white men, but,
rather to include them as an impor
tant part o f a strengthened and di
verse workforce.
These fact are especially evi
dent in the transportation industry,
one that touches everybody's life,
regardless o f age, race, or income.
It is only fitting, then, that the Con
ference o f Minority Transportation
Officials (CO M TO ) should enter
the debate to bring clarity to the
affirmative action picture
Formed more than 20 years ago
on Howard U niversity's campus.
CO M TO supports programs that
strengthen the transportation indus
try by identify ing qualified women
and racial minority candidates for
jobs in what has long been consid
ered one o f the nation's most segre
g a te d
e m p lo y m e n t se c to rs.
CO M T O ’s outreach programs en
courage fair competition for con
tracts and jobs in transit, air, rail,
passenger motor carrier and truck
ing occupations.
C PM T O ’s has contributed to
measurable increases for women
and minorities in the field. Bureau
o f Labor Statistics show that in trans
portation occupations excluding
motor vehicles, women increased
from 2.4 percent to 4.1 percent be
tw een 1983 and 1993. African
Americans rose form 6.7 percent to
10.2 percent. Hispanics registered
a smaller increase, from 3.0 to 3 .1
yet the overall industry remains
largely white and male; and w ithout
federal programs to push for inclu
sion o f racial minorities and wom
en, it would likely stay that way. A
look at the airlines industry , partic
ularly, reveals the imbalance Data
for pilots between 1983 and 1993
show women increased from 2.1
percent to 3 9 percent During this
10-year stretch, Hispanics grew less
than a full percent, from 1.6 percent
to 2.4 percent African Americans,
who did not even register in 1983,
came in at 5.5 percent 10 years
later.
Randel McQuown: “A lot of
my friends are minorities. They
cannot find a job. It's really
difficult for Blacks to get
ahead. I think the program is
necessary."
David Kiser: “I am for any
program that helps minority
groups because no one else
wants to help. But it should not
discriminate against white
people like me. I don’t accept it
if it takes away my rights. ”
Martha Lee: “I like this
program. It is the only hope for
some people. ”
Nathan Jimenez: “I feel that
affirmative action is helpful on
the basis that it provides
economic opportunity to the
factions of society that may be
marginalized on the basis of
their racial, ethnic or racial
background."
n
/I
Curtailing Affirmative Action
bv
J ames JL. P o SL\
No matter how you pronounce it,
the name “Adarand” spells trouble for
America -- all of America. The recent
Supreme Court decision limiting the
scope of preference programs for mi
nority contractors is a prescription for
confusion and frustration.
Just as this decision split the Court
along ideological lines and produced a
chaotic array of opinions, it will do the
same for race relations throughout the
country. It will also create a sense of
extreme anxiety and anger among
African Americans and other minori
ties, many who refuse to be less than
full stakeholders in America. It will
also send a clear message o f encour
agement to those who are against in
cluding minority groups in the eco
nomic mainstream. These are obvious
points of conflict and frustration for
those who have worked hard and long
to bring a sense of racial harmony and
justice to a country with a history of
racist madness.
For some, insanity is the only
explanation to the issues and circum
stances raised by this decision. For
example, to many, it is inconceivable
that the first woman and second Afri
can American ever to be appointed to
the Court would vote against affirma
tive action in any form. W hat's even
more perplexing is the logic of a group
who receives 95% of all federal con
tracts successfully challenging the
sharing of the remaining 5% with spe
cific racial groups and white women
And. doing so in the name o f justice!
Adding to the confusion, the Su
preme Court, in a separate case, decid
ed to limit Blacks and other minori
ties' access to a quality education
This action will surely add to the ef
forts to deny Blacks and other minor
ities the capacity toobtain competitive
skills and experience both in educa
tional institutions and in the market
place. Again, to some this is insane,
since in the Adarand case, opponents
of affirmative action say they want
decisions made on merit and qualifi
cations rather than race.
America has a history o f ignor
ing the obvious when it comes to
race. In spite o f mounds o f studies
and reports showing great dispari
ties, many whites refuse to accept
unrefutable evidence that racism and
discrim ination continue to favor
white America at the expense o f near
ly all other racial groups.
This is particularly true for affir
mative action programs in construc
tion which more often favor whites
over ethnic minorities.
Nevertheless, when it comes to
race-conscious remedies to correct
historical wrongs or current patterns
of discrimination, logic is not a factor.
Opponents simply ignore the data, re
sist all reason, turn the tables and
become artful in blaming the victims.
The highest court in the land is no
exception.
Closer to home this pattern is
clearly apparent. African Americans
in construction are barely better off
today, after nearly three decades o f
set-a-side programs. Without any real
moral commitment, they were de
signed to fail, providing calculated
incentives to those best able to un
dermine the intent o f the programs.
Now, insult is added to injury when
profiteers and amoral politicians at
tempt to cast the few remaining mi
nority contractors as undeserving,
meaning unqualified, beneficiaries.
Meanwhile the actual beneficiaries,
many white and several minority
contractors, operate fallaciously and
without impunity, while escaping all
but the slightest scrutiny.
Few people are actually willing
to accept the fact that white women,
the primary beneficiaries o f affirma
tive action programs, almost always
operate as surrogates for their hus
bands or sons, and have bastardized
the intent o f these programs. It is
painfully true that as they currently
operate, many affirmative action pro
grams serve as nothing more than
quota shams or fronts for white males.
It is also true that to a large extent
more than a few African-Americans,
Hispanics and others persistently op
erate as fronts for white males. Addi
tionally, no one has begun to discuss
how a large a share of affirmative
action money is distributed to all-white
suppliers, manufacturers and insur
ance, rental and other industry-related
companies.
So, in fact, many current affir
mative action programs, rather than
being reverse discrimination, are re
ally a perverse, clandestine version
o f historical discrimination which has
always benefitted white males.
A few weeks prior to the Su
preme Court decision, I wrote the fol
lowing in a local trade association
newsletter;
“Oregon Department of Trans
portation (ODOT) DBE Program in
Shambles”
The recently-released “Annual
Update and progress Report on Dis
a d v a n ta g e B u sin ess E n te rp rise
(DBE) Program” for the period O c
tober 1, 1993 through September
30, 1994 paints a dismal picture for
African American. For example, of
$219 million committed to prime
contractors in the reporting period,
only $49,000 was committed to Af
rican American contractors. O f the
$30 million plus contracts awarded
to DBE’s nearly half, $14 million,
went to white fem ales. The rest went
to Hispanics, Asian/Pacifics and Na
tive Americans, which in no way
proportionately reflects their repre
sentation in O regon's population. It
is embarrassing that Black males
are listed at so low numbers, and
African Americans women are not
listed at all.
What is even more troublesome
is that even prior to this current
wave o f attacks on affirmative ac
tion programs, opponents working
in and outside o f ODOT have been
successful in dismantling all sem
blance o f compliance safeguards. In
the report cited above, contract pro
visions have been relaxed to allow
prime contractors to further abuse
the program 's intent. For example,
prime contractors are no longer re
quired to submit a work plan on how
they use DBE’s. Also primes are no
longer required to replace eligible
D B E ’s with sim ilarly qualified
D BE’s. In trucking, an area o f his
torical “fronting abuse.” the require
ments for leasingand equipment use
have been relaxed, making it easier
to pass on work to non-D BE's. Fi
nally, and making matters worse,
provisions to lessen official access
to prime contractors' records and
documents has been approved.
Along The Color Line
What Affirmative Action Really
Means
bv D r . M anning M arable
Every one these days seem to be
debating "affirmative action,” but few
really know what the term means.
That has happened in recent years is
a profound distortion o f w hat “affir
mative action” really is, and how it
evolved as a set o f public policies.
Historically, the political moti
vation behind both “equal opportu
nity" and “affirmative action" came
from the struggle to abolish slavery
and its aftermath during the period of
Reconstruction. The thirteenth, four
teenth and fifteenth amendments to
the US Constitution attempted to
destroy the second-class legal and
political statusof African-Americans.
This political sentim ent was ex
pressed in the Civil Rights Act of
1866 which stated that “all persons
within the jurisdiction o f the United
States shall have the same right in
every State and Territory, to make
and enforce contracts, to sue, be par
ties, give evidence, and to the full
and equal benefit of all laws and
proceedings for the security o f per
sons and property as is enjoyed by
white citizens...”
During the Great Depression,
the role ofthe Federal government in
protecting the equal rights o f black
A m ericans w as expanded again
through the direct militancy and ag
itation o f black people. In 1941, so
cialist and trade union leader A. Philip
Randolph mobilized thousands of
black workers to participate in the
“Negro march on Washington Move
ment,” calling upon the administra
tion o f Franklin D. Roosevelt to car
ry out a series o f reforms favorable to
civil rights. To halt this mobilization,
Roosevelt agreed to sign Executive
Order 8802, which outlawed segre
gationist hiring policies by defense-
related industries that held Federal
contracts. This Executive Order not
only greatly increased the number o f
African-American who were em
ployed in wartime industries, but
expanded the political idea that gov
ernment could not take a passive role
in the dismantling o f institutional
racism.
This position was reaffirmed in
1953, by president Harry S. Truman 's
Committee on Government Contract
Compliance, which urged the Bu
reau o f Employment Security “to act
positively and affirmatively to im
plement the policy o f nondiscrimina
tion in its functions o f placement
counseling, occupational analysisand
industrial services, labor market in
formation, and community partici
pation in em ploym ent services.”
Thus, despite the fact that the actual
phrase, "affirmative action" was not
used by a C hief Executive until Pres
ident John F. Kennedy’s Executive
Order 11246 in 1961, the basic idea
o f taking proactive steps to uproot
structural patterns o f discrimination
had been around for a long time.
The essential difficulty in every
discussion about affirmative action
goes back to its history and evalua
tion. “Affirmative action” per se was
never a law, or even a coherently
developed governmental strategy to
address discrimination. It was a set
o f Executive Orders and governmen
tal policies regarding Federal con
tracts, em ploym ent and licenses.
Some Federal laws and initiatives
implied that the social policy goal o f
uprooting discrimination ought to be
the achievement o f a “color blind’
society, in which racial categories
would become irrelevant. The 1964
Civil Rights Act, for example, de
clares that workplace discrimination
on the basis o f “race, color, religion,
sex or national origin" should be
outlawed. The 1964 act also states
that it should not be interpreted to
require any employer “to grant pref
erential treatment to any individual
or to any group.”
Five years later, however, under
the Republican administration o f
Richard M. Nixon, the Federal gov
ernment authorized what became
known as the “Philadelphia Plan.”
This initiative required federal con
tractors to set specific goals for mi
nority hiring. As a result, the number
o f racial minorities in the construc
tion industry increased from I to 12
percent. N ixon’s basic strategy was
to utilize a liberal reform for a con
servative objective: the expansion of
the African-American middle class
would potentially benefit the Repub
lican Party. Nixon authorized plac
ing Federal Reserve funds in black-
owned banks; he publicly defended
the slogan “Black Power,’ but care
fully interpreted it as "black capital
ism.”
In the 1978 Bakke decision, the
Supreme Court overturned the poli
cy o f setting aside 16 out o f 100
medical school openings for racial
minorities in the selection o f appli
cants for the University ofC alifom ia
at Davis. But despite Bakke and oth
er subsequent legal rulings which
restricted the scope o f affirmative
action, million o f whites increasing
ly came to the opinion that any pos
itive steps which addressed racial or
gender inequality in employment or
educational opportunities, no matter
how modest, somehow were at their
expense