Monday, December 01, 2008

The Slippery Slope toward Nondiscrimination   [Roger Clegg]

The Portland Business Journal reported last Friday that the Oregon Department of Transportation “is facing criticism over an effort to give more work to specific groups of minority contractors.” ODOT recently spelled out that a particular project would include requirements for hiring African-American and Asian-American contractors; the trouble is that, in years past, the agency did not specify which minority groups needed to receive state contracts. “If you’re a minority, you’re a minority. There’s no classifications,” said Gene Nelson, owner of a Native American-owned electrical contractor. “We are now a minority that is being discriminated against.” Careful, Gene! That kind of reasoning might lead some to question why Oregon is discriminating against anyone on the basis of race.

12/01 02:44 PMShare