Affirmative action
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2020-07-07T12:48:25-05:00
During his tenure, Mayor Daley promoted affirmative action. He continued a program, initiated by Mayor Harold Washington (1983-1987), to set aside a percentage of city contracts for minority-owned and woman-owned enterprises, also known as MBE’s and WBE’s. But he faced legal obstacles.
Kelly Welsh, Chicago corporation counsel (1989-1993), explains the Richmond v. Croson decision (1989), which threatened to invalidate the city's program:
To meet the legal requirements imposed by the Croson decision, Daley testified to document past patterns of discrimination.
Julia Stasch comments on the difficulties the affirmative action program faced later in Daley's administration:
