The Biden Administration has issued Executive Order 13985 requiring the whole of government to “affirmatively advance equity, civil rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity.”1 In addition, the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law2 will provide unprecedented resources to rebuild the nation’s physical infrastructure. Government contracting practices and procurement professionals will be tasked in identifying the type of contracts, partnerships, and processes that can best fulfill the Biden-Harris executive agenda. But how will procurement professionals accomplish this arduous task? How will they link procurement processes to racial equity goals? Furthermore, where can procurement professionals find research and strategies applicable to the unique racial paradigm within the U.S.?3
Some nonprofit organizations have already offered very promising strategies for our current model of procurement.4 However, Executive Order 13985 significantly complicates this model. The current model of procurement uncritically presupposes that procurement professionals intuitively have the necessary racial acumen to advance racial equity. Bearing in mind centuries of institutionalized racial oppression, we must critically interrogate this unproven hypothesis. It seems impractical to conclude that procurement professionals will instantly demonstrate the required racial acumen to advance racial equity. Consequently, we must reassess our model of procurement.
Considering the magnitude of the task to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure and the challenges integral to racial equity work, our current model of procurement must be revised. While the unique expertise and authority of procurement officials should not be understated, a revised procurement model would intentionally fuse racial expertise into every aspect of the procurement process. Racial equity expertise provides a realistic assessment of the society’s current racial commitments and practices. This assessment is informed by rigorous data analysis, but remains anchored in the society’s racial history, mores, and capacities. With this realistic assessment, the racial equity expert is best suited to provide the necessary strategic insights to advance racial equity. Consequently, the revised procurement model enhances its capacity to advance racial equity. Its ability to identify racial equity opportunities and constraints within the procurement context and develop strategies based on these realities will be essential for advancing racial equity. Nonetheless, the revised model of procurement must embolden procurement professionals in the nobility of their vocation.
For procurement professionals to confidently engage in racial equity work, they must find assurance in the historical appropriateness of linking procurement to social policy goals. Christopher McCrudden explores the linkage of procurement processes to social policy goals in his work.5 He demonstrates the historical efficacy of this linkage both within the U.S. and abroad. After World War I, the British government used government contracting to provide work for disabled ex-servicemen.6 The U.S. passed the Wagner-O’Day Act to create employment opportunities for individuals classified as blind.7 And during the Civil Rights struggle of the 1960’s, the U.S. government attempted to address the legacy of racial discrimination by requiring affirmative action goals within government contracts.8 Notwithstanding the pros and cons of these examples, the larger point is that we have historically linked procurement processes to social policy goals.
But should procurement professionals be required to engage in racial equity work? Many professionals engage their specific areas of expertise with professed racial neutrality, so why should procurement professionals be different? This concern deserves a fair hearing. Unfortunately, Executive Order 13985 severely compromises the logicality of race neutral arguments within the procurement profession. It is important to note that not being required to publicly engage racial equity considerations does not shield professionals from forming and cultivating their own racial visions privately. The legacy of the Tuskegee Syphilis experiment reminds us that professionalized expertise can institutionalize destruction when their racial imaginations go unchecked.9 William Easterly’s scholarship argues that even experts are susceptible to tyrannical characteristics.10
In January 2023, the Biden administration announced a $2.1 billion investment to improve four nationally significant bridges.11 The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), through the Bridge Investment Program, selected the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District, the Connecticut Department of Transportation, and the City of Chicago, Illinois, to receive this historic public investment. President Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made a rare joint appearance in Covington, Kentucky, and displayed their bipartisan commitment to rebuilding the nation.12 To be sure, this demonstration of bipartisanship is necessary to rebuild the nation and worthy of public admiration. But, as we rebuild in the spirit of bipartisanship, the cautionary tale of another bridge should caution our bridge building disposition.
This cautionary tale emerges in Alabama, where the legacy of another bridge lives on. A bridge that highlighted the sheer genius of American expertise, but a bridge that ultimately demonstrated the limitations of that same American expertise to adequately address the deeper racial conflicts within the nation. A bridge that proved to be a blessing for some, a heavy burden for others, but an unforgettable lesson to all. This is the contradicting legacy of the Edmund Pettis Bridge, engineered in the racist soil of Selma, demonstrating both engineering ingenuity and resentment to racial equality, that the nation must not forget as we build.
While many more questions must be explored further, the main argument being advanced here is that a revised procurement model would better equip us to advance racial equity. By embedding racial equity expertise within the procurement process, we can craft new pathways towards racial equity.13 These pathways will include 21st century social engineers, in the tradition of Justice Thurgood Marshall, embodying the fusion of professionalized expertise with a larger social vision of racial equity. These pathways will advance a partnership conception of democracy demonstrating equal concern for the fate of everyone over whom it claims dominion.14 These pathways will empower new types of political leadership, advocacy organizations, philanthropic commitments, and habits of the heart.15 Lastly, these pathways will leave landmarks for the next generation to evaluate our contributions. Hopefully, the next generation will consider the bridges we are building today and discover that we built both our physical and racial infrastructure. And maybe we will finally demonstrate our comprehension of the wisdom embodied by the late Congressman John Lewis, that a New Selma is always possible. 16
About The Author
Jarvis Williams is a racial equity and accountability strategist at Project On Government Oversight. In that role, he contributes to POGO’s racial equity and accountability work. He previously led this work at Open The Government (OTG), and played a significant role in merging that organization’s racial equity project and coalition-building work into POGO’s civic engagement team. He is an established leader within historically marginalized communities advocating for critical government oversight. He has served in several consequential positions all designed to strategically advance racial equity. Prior to joining OTG, he worked as a Senior Pastor, public issue campaign strategist, adjunct professor, program evaluator, public speaker, and policy consultant. His doctoral research aims to advance racial equity within government by approaching the procurement process through a strategic lens. He has been invited to speak on strategies for advancing racial justice in academic institutions, religious institutions, fortune 500 corporations, and with policymakers at the state and local level. Jarvis holds a B.A. in interdisciplinary studies from Mississippi State University, a Master of Divinity degree from the Interdenominational Theological Center, a Masters of Social Policy degree from Brandeis University, and is currently a doctoral candidate in Social Policy at Brandeis University in the Heller School for Social Policy and Management.
Footnotes
1 Feagin, J. (2013). Systemic racism: A theory of oppression. Routledge.
2 https://www.whitehouse.gov/bipartisan-infrastructure-law/
3 Feagin, J. (2013). Systemic racism: A theory of oppression. Routledge.
4 See https://racialequityalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/GARE-Contract_For_Equity.pdf; also see https://govlab.hks.harvard.edu/files/govlabs/files/procurement_equity_publication_1.pdf?m=1663700373
5 McCrudden, C. (2007). Buying social justice: Equality, government procurement, & legal change. OUP Oxford.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8. Ibid
9 Gray, F. D. (1998). The Tuskegee syphilis study: The real story and beyond. New South Books.
10 Easterly, W. (2014). The tyranny of experts: Economists, dictators, and the forgotten rights of the poor. Basic Books.
12 https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/04/politics/biden-kentucky-infrastructure-wednesday/index.html
13 Quinn, M. C. (2015). Post-Ferguson Social Engineering: Problem-Solving Justice or Just Posturing. Howard LJ, 59, 739.
14 Dworkin, R. (2011). Justice for hedgehogs. Harvard University Press.
15 Bellah, R. N., Madsen, R., Sullivan, W. M., Swidler, A., & Tipton, S. M. (2007). Habits of the heart, with a new preface: individualism and commitment in American life. Univ of California Press.
16 Lewis, J. (2012). Across that bridge: Life lessons and a vision for change. Legacy Lit
