August 30, 2010

Minority Business Development - Why Now More than Ever

We have to go back to the Civil Rights era in the 1950s through the 1960s to fully understand why we do minority business development. People sometimes forget that in the 1950s America suffered from its unique brand of apartheid in all of the former Confederate states. And in most of the northern states that had become a refuge for migrating blacks since the Civil War, forms of segregation and discrimination took a less overt form. The integration of public and civil services, the right to vote the ability to live and work without discrimination based on the color of ones skin was not something that changed overnight or without sacrifice. Dedicated people of all races and creeds gave their lives to make America a place where race was not an impediment to accomplishing your dreams.

One of the fruits of this struggle that was the development of educational opportunities for Black Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans and Hispanic Americans. Remember George Wallace standing in front of the University of Alabama saying that Negroes would not be allowed in that fine institution. If the Crimson Tide football team is any indication, we have unquestionably come a long way since those dark and troubling days.

Yet while progress was almost steadily made in areas of basic civil rights, educational opportunities and job opportunities, opportunities in business, the key to full participation in American culture were slowest to develop. Richard Nixon, some might say ironically, that pushed the concept of "Black Capitalism" in the late 1960s as a key missing ingredient in the Civil Rights struggle. Nixon created the Office of Minority Business Enterprise to in his words help blacks and other minorities, but particularly blacks, "get their piece of the action".

But from the very beginning of the federal program to promote minority business development, there were challenges from non-minority businesses who claimed that it was unfair for the federal government or any government to ameliorate hundreds of years of discrimination if it hurt a non-minority business. But despite all of the legal challenges that have narrowed the ability of public sector efforts to bring about racial and ethnic inclusion in American business, minority entrepreneurs accepted the challenge and grew from almost non-existence to where we are today. The NMSDC played a critical role in this development by taking the effort of minority business development to the private sector. Corporate members of the NMSDC pledged to give certified minority businesses opportunities. Certification was important because from the very beginning of the Nixon era programs, non-minority businesses were setting up "fronts" to steal opportunities away from legitimate minority enterprises. This practice continues to this day, and is particularly prevalent within the women's business community.

So progress has been made despite the legal challenges to the point where today the Federal government does not technically have a minority business procurement program. Federal contractors could meet all of their goals and not buy one dime of services from a certified MBE in our Council. And this is one of the reasons why Minority Business Development is needed now more than ever.

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