Minority quotas outdated, William E. Mason, letter to Belleville News Democrat

Dr. William Mason

"Enough is ENOUGH is what the Metro East Black Contractors Organization, five black mayors of metro-east cities, most blacks, and most caring and fair-minded whites who reside in the metro-east area are saying after seeing so few black contractors and black workers on the Mississippi River Bridge Project and other Illinois Department of Transportation projects.

When questions are raised as to why there are so few blacks, IDOT is quick to cite a still existing but outdated law passed in 1964 that set a 14 percent minority worker requirement for all federal projects. When that law was put on the books, blacks and minorities were a far smaller segment of the metro-east area than today.
Many of us who are saying "enough is enough" know that the only way to turn around all-black cities such as East St. Louis is to make sure that when work such as the new bridge comes through the city, that blacks and minorities get their fair share of the work. Because we also know that if they do not, then not only will those cities continue to decline, but the affluent surrounding cities will soon bear the brunt." Courtesy of Bellevile News Democrat


William E. Mason

President, MEBCO

East St. Louis