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Reflections is a collection of my writings through the years in defense of and support for Affirmative Action in the construction industry. It documents a struggle for economic justice that began on July 23, 1969 when Chicago community groups assembled to demand equal participation in local federal construction projects. As these programs became successful, resistance rose at a rapid clip. Who would have thought that our quest for economic justice would eventually reach the Supreme Court as a battle against "reverse discrimination?" Who would have believed that the "affirmative action" programs that integrated an exclusive white workforce, and provided new opportunities for Black firms would be challenged so vigorously that the term would not even be used by the 2008 presidential candidates? We share our experiences for others seeking change by providing examples of how Black businesses can address community problems, including educating elected officials and holding them accountable. It was though my membership in Parren Mitchell's (Maryland's first Black congressman-1971), Black Business Braintrust, that the first national legislation requiring mandatory Minority Business Enterprise [MBE] utilization was forged. This book emphasizes four main areas of concern: Affirmative Action as a tool to break the pattern of exclusion by construction trade unions and apprenticeship programs. To demonstrate that local organizations with dedicated leaders can combat discrimination and create positive change that reverberates nationally. To expand the Black tradesmen workforce as a vehicle for increasing Black subcontractor numbers and developing substantial Black general contractors. The development of viable black construction firms: UBM, Inc., which I co-founded in 1974, was by 2004, the largest Black general contractor in the state of Illinois. My firm accomplished everything I sought to prove as a black business by creating the capacity to apply positive solutions to problems besieging our community.
Essential reading for anyone hoping to understand the national controversy about set-asides and other forms of affirmative action. "I strongly recommend this book to sociologists, political scientists, politicians, and business leaders as an analysis of race relations and economic development." -- Lewis M. Killian, author of Black and White: Reflections of a White Southern Sociologist This path-breaking study examines the accomplishments and limitations of the set-aside programs that have moved to the center of national political debate about affirmative action in the United States. Balanced yet candid, it focuses on the landmark case of Richmond v. Croson, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the city of Richmond's set-aside program, which required that thirty percent of the money in city construction contracts be awarded to minority firms. The authors describe the politics that gave rise to the set-aside program, investigate its actual operation, explore its effects, and detail responses to it in both black and white communities. They document that, while the program served important political purposes, it produced limited economic benefits for the broader African-American community, and conclude with an examination of the politics of development as an alternative to the set-aside framework that has been central to urban politics.
In this #1 New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo offers a revelatory examination of race in America Protests against racial injustice and white supremacy have galvanized millions around the world. The stakes for transformative conversations about race could not be higher. Still, the task ahead seems daunting, and it’s hard to know where to start. How do you tell your boss her jokes are racist? Why did your sister-in-law hang up on you when you had questions about police reform? How do you explain white privilege to your white, privileged friend? In So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from police brutality and cultural appropriation to the model minority myth in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race, and about how racism infects every aspect of American life. "Simply put: Ijeoma Oluo is a necessary voice and intellectual for these times, and any time, truth be told." ―Phoebe Robinson, New York Times bestselling author of You Can't Touch My Hair
This collection is a primer on significant news and events facing Black Americans over the past 12 years. King does the hard work of researching media, academia and grassroots activity to uncover the best work of the nation’s top journalists, scholars, activists and organizers on topics from entrepreneurship and job development to environmental justice and health disparities. King’s gift in this work, is his ability to excavate the information for us, analyze it and give it back to us in bite-sized nuggets. And, King is careful to bring forth ideas for action. He chronicles the work of institutions, organizations and individuals that are developing real-world solutions. With clarity and focus, each piece is designed to “wake us up” to a particular reality of what it means to be Black in America. At the same time, The Action Steps provide pathways to resolving The Crises that America cannot afford to ignore.
A half century after the Fair Housing Act, despite ongoing transformations of the geography of privilege and poverty, residential segregation by race and income continues to shape urban and suburban neighborhoods in the United States. Why do people live where they do? What explains segregation’s persistence? And why is addressing segregation so complicated? The Dream Revisited brings together a range of expert viewpoints on the causes and consequences of the nation’s separate and unequal living patterns. Leading scholars and practitioners, including civil rights advocates, affordable housing developers, elected officials, and fair housing lawyers, discuss the nature of and policy responses to residential segregation. Essays scrutinize the factors that sustain segregation, including persistent barriers to mobility and complex neighborhood preferences, and its consequences from health to home finance and from policing to politics. They debate how actively and in what ways the government should intervene in housing markets to foster integration. The book features timely analyses of issues such as school integration, mixed income housing, and responses to gentrification from a diversity of viewpoints. A probing examination of a deeply rooted problem, The Dream Revisited offers pressing insights into the changing face of urban inequality.