Beyond the Rhetoric
A Giant for Black Business Moves On
By Harry C. Alford
Thursday, April 24, 2008
For the most part with Presidential Cabinet Secretaries, they come and they go. Most do little to further the progress of diversity in the procurement arenas. Some will actually think that it is their duty to resist it. Building minority business, in particular, Black business enhances employment and strengthens our communities.
All of the indicators move positively when this is done. Since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, there have been too few secretaries that have done much to address that need. Commerce Secretary Mosbacher, under the Reagan Administration, empowered the Minority Business Development Agency and ordered that the office work with “minority chambers of commerce.”
Funny, the first thing the Clinton Administration did was remove that phrase from its mission statement. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, in Clinton’s first administration, led the charge for diversity with a great amount of energy. His successor shut down that whole operation, to our shock. Clinton’s Secretary of Transportation virtually told the large white contractors not to worry about diversity. So we rolled with the “punches” and made gains where we could get them.
Then out of nowhere came this man named Alphonso Jackson. He had a deep background in the U.S. Department of Housing, HUD. He was the baby of 11 children in Dallas, Texas. He worked overseeing public housing in Dallas, as well as St. Louis and Washington, D.C. He knew this complicated system and how to transverse the “roadmap.”
He also had a very unique advantage. He was the personal friend of President George W. Bush. This meant he had a comfort level with the big boss and could feel free in his thinking and convictions. One of his convictions was leveling the playing field for minority businesses.
As Deputy Secretary of HUD, he made it clear to their procurement office, “Things are going to change quickly and the face of contractors in this agency will be the actual face of America. I can’t exactly tell you how you are going to get there but you are going to get there or be gone from this agency. Two years is enough for change.” Man! It was like he was sent directly from the heavens.
An edict was issued that all contractors who have been working with HUD for five or more years will not have their contracts renewed. It was time for fresh blood and an updating in the competitive mix. Many big corporations were shocked as much as we were excited. He also said to his people to use the SBA 8(a) program as much as possible so that they could diversify their contracting portfolio.
The National Black Chamber of Commerce sent the call to our membership – “It’s a new day at HUD.” And so we came and things started to happen for the better. He soon became Secretary of HUD and things just got better. HUD was on a roll. It didn’t take long for the minority portion of contracts to rise from 14.5 percent to over 45 percent.
This is something unheard of from a federal agency until then. Blacks, Asians, Hispanics and White women became euphoric but the mainstream, White male faction found little to be happy about. So, the start of a formal white press condemnation of Secretary Jackson began.
On a few occasions,I took Black business owners to meet with Secretary Jackson on an introductory basis. He would sit there and asked pointed questions of them and, in conclusion, would offer pointed advice about who to see and what approach to take. It was like going to see Solomon.
Many of our members would connect with success. Some eventually won competitive multi-million dollar contracts and found their businesses going to two or three phases higher in their career paths. Never once did Secretary Jackson or any of his staff ask about the political persuasion of any of the business owners. Never!!
The fact is, most of the successful ones were Democratic, but it didn’t matter. That is why I am shocked at how the press created this picture of Secretary Jackson as a right wing biased administrator. He was steady as a rock and all of our ships were rising. Even a principal from the former Clinton Administration called me and confessed, “I never knew we could have a Secretary so committed to diversity in procurement. HUD is right!”
It came to an end on April 18. So much adversity from the press and political hit men led to his decision to walk away. He opened doors for Black business and that was his “transgression.”
Let the record show that Secretary Alphonso Jackson was the best. There should be statues built of him in urban cities throughout the United States. He was good for Black America and for that, he has paid a price. It was an unjust price that is to our detriment. God speed Secretary Jackson.
Mr. Alford is the co-founder, president/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Web site: www.nationalbcc.org.