"Minority" should only mean Black, says Chicago mayoral candidate Meeks
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Mayoral challenger James Meeks scrambled Thursday to put out a political fire touched off by his suggestion that only African Americans should be eligible for city contracts set aside for minorities and women.
Meeks made the statement on Wednesday during an interview on WVON-AM (1690). It happened during a discussion of why African-American businesses got a 7 percent sliver of Chicago’s $1 billion spending pie through Aug. 31, down from 8 percent a year ago.
“The word ‘minority’ from our standpoint should mean African American. I don’t think women, Asians and Hispanics should be able to use that title,” he said. “That’s why our numbers cannot improve — because we use women, Asians and Hispanics who are not people of color, who are not people who have been discriminated against.”
Hours after making those remarks, Meeks back-tracked by saying he would only exclude white women if elected mayor. The set-aside program currently earmarks 25 percent of all city contracts for minorities and 5 percent for companies owned by women.
“I don’t believe white women should be considered in that count ….You have white women in the category. They receive contracts. Then, white men receive contracts. Where does that leave everybody else?” he told Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32 news.
On Thursday, Meeks issued a written statement further clarifying his remarks. It emphasized that “all minority- and women-owned businesses” deserve their “fair share” of city contracts. But Meeks also noted that “systemic corruption” has allowed white-owned “fronts” posing as minorities and women to defraud the program and make African-Americans the “most under-represented among city contractors.”
The explanation came too late to put out the political fire.
Hedy Ratner, co-president of the Women’s Business Development Center, was already “furious” at Meeks. She argued Thursday that, if anything, the 5 percent set-aside for women “should be higher.”
“Is he saying that this should be an African-American city with policies only for African Americans? I’m surprised that a candidate for mayor who wants to represent the entire city would exclude a majority of its citizens,” she said.
Paul Cerpa, executive director of the Hispanic American Construction Industry Association (HACIA), said the federal government has made it clear that the “presumptive group” of those historically discriminated against includes blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans and “women, regardless of ethnicity.”
“To draw the line in the sand and say, ‘This is only mine — not yours’ doesn’t allow everyone to play in the sandbox,” Cerpa said.
Of the $1 billion in contracts awarded during the first eight months of this year, African Americans got 7 percent or $73.6 million worth, compared to 8 percent or $83 million for Asian Americans, 14 percent or $142.2 million for Hispanics and 8 percent or $81 million for women.
In 2005, James Duff pleaded guilty to masterminding a scheme to defraud the city of $100 million in contracts earmarked for minorities and women. A string of revelations by the Chicago Sun-Times provided further proof that Daley’s minority set-aside program had been manipulated by the politically connected at the expense of minorities.
http://www.suntimes.com/2877318-417/women-contracts-meeks-percent-african.html
Meeks made the statement on Wednesday during an interview on WVON-AM (1690). It happened during a discussion of why African-American businesses got a 7 percent sliver of Chicago’s $1 billion spending pie through Aug. 31, down from 8 percent a year ago.
“The word ‘minority’ from our standpoint should mean African American. I don’t think women, Asians and Hispanics should be able to use that title,” he said. “That’s why our numbers cannot improve — because we use women, Asians and Hispanics who are not people of color, who are not people who have been discriminated against.”
Hours after making those remarks, Meeks back-tracked by saying he would only exclude white women if elected mayor. The set-aside program currently earmarks 25 percent of all city contracts for minorities and 5 percent for companies owned by women.
“I don’t believe white women should be considered in that count ….You have white women in the category. They receive contracts. Then, white men receive contracts. Where does that leave everybody else?” he told Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32 news.
On Thursday, Meeks issued a written statement further clarifying his remarks. It emphasized that “all minority- and women-owned businesses” deserve their “fair share” of city contracts. But Meeks also noted that “systemic corruption” has allowed white-owned “fronts” posing as minorities and women to defraud the program and make African-Americans the “most under-represented among city contractors.”
The explanation came too late to put out the political fire.
Hedy Ratner, co-president of the Women’s Business Development Center, was already “furious” at Meeks. She argued Thursday that, if anything, the 5 percent set-aside for women “should be higher.”
“Is he saying that this should be an African-American city with policies only for African Americans? I’m surprised that a candidate for mayor who wants to represent the entire city would exclude a majority of its citizens,” she said.
Paul Cerpa, executive director of the Hispanic American Construction Industry Association (HACIA), said the federal government has made it clear that the “presumptive group” of those historically discriminated against includes blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans and “women, regardless of ethnicity.”
“To draw the line in the sand and say, ‘This is only mine — not yours’ doesn’t allow everyone to play in the sandbox,” Cerpa said.
Of the $1 billion in contracts awarded during the first eight months of this year, African Americans got 7 percent or $73.6 million worth, compared to 8 percent or $83 million for Asian Americans, 14 percent or $142.2 million for Hispanics and 8 percent or $81 million for women.
In 2005, James Duff pleaded guilty to masterminding a scheme to defraud the city of $100 million in contracts earmarked for minorities and women. A string of revelations by the Chicago Sun-Times provided further proof that Daley’s minority set-aside program had been manipulated by the politically connected at the expense of minorities.
http://www.suntimes.com/2877318-417/women-contracts-meeks-percent-african.html
Comments
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Lol @ Asians, Hispanics, and women never being discriminated against.
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No one should be called minority.....
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Damn Meeks.....Blacks should get a bigger cut of the pie though. Whites still get the most subsidies by far, no one else comes close, despite the free labor crackas got off Blacks for so long.
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lmao...hilarious.
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Well he wont be da mayor
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okay, so let me get this straight. Meeks ticked off the ? community last week right, and now he going in on the Hispanic community, the Asian Community and the White women lol And I'm pretty sure the Native Americans are mad too for being forgotten about again. Even under the circumstance lol. Dude is a trip. Stay tuned for Meeks future endeavor with partner Roland Burris on how to run a campaign by using barber shop logic outside the Black community
I wonder how, if at all, this will effect the white guilt vote
either way, he was never in the race to begin with so it don't really mater what he says. Which he knows. Its between Rahmbo, Braun and Chico. Rahmbo will probably win due to name recognition and the large amount of campaign cash he has over everybody combined
and with this residency hearing ? turning into such a sideshow I think dude is gonna manage to come out of it as a sympathetic figure on some Rihanna ? . His past adage 'don't let a crisis go to waste' seems to be in place here -
Is he ? ?I don’t think women, Asians and Hispanics should be able to use that title,” he said. “That’s why our numbers cannot improve — because we use women, Asians and Hispanics who are not people of color, who are not people who have been discriminated against.”
If he added the words, "as much" to the end of that sentence then I could defend him. But he obviously doesn't know WTF he's talking about. -
are you sure this wasnt a quote from somebody on this site? it sounds like a few ? on here.
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Wonder what race the women were that received these contracts? And their husbands? What if you were a black woman? What category do those fall into?
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women, who have apparently never been discriminated againstWonder what race the women were that received these contracts? And their husbands? What if you were a black woman? What category do those fall into? -
Wonder what race the women were that received these contracts? And their husbands? What if you were a black woman? What category do those fall into?
Minority.... as he stated in the article. -
Of the $1 billion in contracts awarded during the first eight months of this year, African Americans got 7 percent or $73.6 million worth, compared to 8 percent or $83 million for Asian Americans, 14 percent or $142.2 million for Hispanics and 8 percent or $81 million for women.
^^ this is what I was referring to with the question.....
I could care less about what this dude thinks....I'm speaking of the contracts that have been awarded
