NAACP Study: Blacks Not Getting Gulf Disaster Contracts

According to an NAACP investigation:

"Community members and business owners [of color] have been locked out of access to contracts for cleanup and other opportunities related to addressing this disaster."

In a letter from NAACP President Benjamin Jealous to BP CEO Tony Hayward, the civil rights organization noted that:

"contractors of color are not receiving equal consideration for opportunities to participate in mitigation efforts."

According to the Federal Procurement Data System, oil spill contracts from the federal government dated July 9, $2.2 million of $53 million in federal contracts -- 4.8 percent -- has gone to small, disadvantaged businesses. Women-owned businesses have landed 4.2 percent of contracts. Of 212 vendors with contracts, just two are African American, 18 are minority-owned, none are historically black colleges or universities -- despite the three in New Orleans alone: Xavier University, Dillard University and Southern University at New Orleans. (theRoot, 7/13/2010)