Affirmative Action
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2021-09-21T13:32:48-05:00
During his tenure, Mayor Daley promoted affirmative action. He continued Chicago's Minority-Owned Business (MBE) and Women-Owned Business (WBE) programs. Mayor Harold Washington (served 1983-1987) had designed those programs to set aside a percentage of city contracts for these groups.
However, Daley’s administration also faced legal challenges. The United States Supreme Court, in its Richmond v. Croson decision (1989), created new legal requirements that cities, like Chicago, had to meet in order to sustain their set-aside programs.
Kelly Welsh, Chicago corporation counsel (1989-1993), explains the challenge posed by the Croson decision and the mayor's efforts to meet the new requirements:
Julia Stasch comments on the difficulties the affirmative action program faced later in Daley's administration:
