Instructions… Bottom of FormCan Black people build school buildings?By. James ClingmanNNPA Columnist
BlackonomicsYou bet they can! Although I have always known the answer to that question, I was so excited when I received my copy of the Toledo Journal (May 11 – 17, 2005) and read the following headline. “A First: Black Prime Chosen to Build TPS School.” The Toledo Public Schools administration has selected a Black-owned firm, JL Judge Construction Services, to build the Robinson Middle School as part of that city’s $823 million “Building for Success” school construction program. Billions of dollars have been allocated and are currently being spent on new schools buildings all across the State of Ohio, and what Toledo has done should be duplicated by more Ohio cities. This is not the first time Toledo has stepped out in the development/construction arena and done something “nontraditional.” I also read in the Journal, sometime in 2004, about a Black firm getting a piece of the development action on Toledo’s waterfront construction. Notice I said “development”, not a “subcontract.” I do understand there are still bridges to cross in Toledo, as I also keep up with the Toledo Black Chamber of Commerce and its fearless effort to monitor and advocate more Black business involvement in the public school building program. They have a way to go, but at least they are making progress, especially when you compare it to what is happening just 200 miles south of Toledo in Cincinn-apathy, Ohio, the economic apartheid capital of the state.Cincinnati is also in the midst of a billion dollar school building project. Of course, just like the development on the “Freedom Banks” of the Ohio River, where Black developers were denied the opportunity to bid on the $800 million project, Black owned construction firms are not building individual schools. They have to subcontract to get a piece of the action. You know, be certified and all of that nonsense. It would be great if a Black company just stepped out of the box and competed against the white-owned companies that always get the prime contracts – and won – as JL Judge did. Yes, it would be nice, but it seems Black folks just 200 miles “south” of Toledo are very different; they would rather settle for subcontracts and 20 percent “aspirational goals” set by the Public School administration, goals that are never met.The Judge bid was just under $7 million, beating out two other bids submitted by White-owned firms that “have been getting plenty of the construction project’s business,” according to the Journal article. JL Judge Company competed and won, and the board voted 5-0 to award the contract to this Black firm, headquartered in Detroit. If that does not excite you, you must be jealous. But that’s all right. Maybe it will make more Black companies compete for the 80percent rather than settle for a promise of 20 percent, which is never achieved. Here is the real kicker. You’ve heard the term “economic inclusion,” right? Well, in Toledo’s program, as in most other inclusion programs, the goals are virtually never met and sometimes even ignored by prime contractors, mostly because there are no teeth in the agreements; there is no hammer, no real negative consequences for failing to meet the goals. I have a very good feeling the JL Judge Company will meet and even exceed the goal of just 20 percent economic inclusion for “minorities” – and I believe a significant number of those “minorities” will be Black. You want to solve the economic inclusion problem? Award more prime contracts to Black owned firms. Stop playing these games and stop lying to taxpayers about not being able to find Black folks who can develop and build.What the folks in Toledo have done is great. Of course, we need more. After all, as the article pointed out, most of the students who will attend the Robinson Middle School are Black. Why shouldn’t Black people have an opportunity to participate not only in voting for the school levies but in the wealth generating activities that take place after the levy is passed? Can you imagine? Billions in construction being spent in the State of Ohio and you can probably count on one hand the number of Black developers and builders who play a significant decision-making role in the process. Moreover, Black people walking through their own neighborhoods can only peer through the construction fence at white developers and employees building schools for Black children and taking their paychecks home to their communities every two weeks. Billions are being spent and Black folks are getting a pittance. That is usually the case when it comes to public projects.So I say “Kudos” to Toledo for a first step in what I hope will become a trend for Black owned businesses. The only way this unfair and unjust system will be changed is by Black companies challenging the status quo by preparing ourselves and by going after the “Whites only” 80 percent of the projects and not accepting the “minorities only” 20 percent. We fought against “Whites only” toilets, “Whites only” water fountains, and “whites only” serving counters. Why aren’t we willing to fight just as hard against “Whites only” construction programs?What’s wrong with us today? Many of our contractors settle for crumbs from the master’s table when they should be baking and eating from their own loaves. Many of us are still operating in a psychologically enslaved mode, holding our brothers and sisters down while White folks walk on them. Instead of going for the gusto we acquiesce to the mediocre. Yes, we can build! Yes, we can develop! Thank you, Toledo, for giving us another positive example of those realities.James E. Clingman, an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati’s African American Studies department, is former editor of the Cincinnati Herald Newspaper and founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce. He hosts the radio program, ”Blackonomics,” and has written several books, including: Economic Empowerment or Economic Enslavement – We have a Choice; Blackonomics; and the recently published Black-o-Knowledge-Stuff . To book Clingman for a speech or purchase his s books, go to his Web site, www.blackonomics.com. He can be contacted by telephone at 513/ 489-4132.###
