This put up was initially printed on The Washington Informer
By Stacy M. Brown
The Trump administration has blatantly resurrected segregation in federal contracting, undoing a long time of civil rights progress by eradicating anti-segregation mandates.
In line with reporting from NPR, workers from the Nationwide Institutes of Well being (NIH) have been despatched memos that states: “FAR 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Services, and FAR 52.222-26, Equal Alternative is not going to be thought-about when making award selections or imposing necessities.”
The regressive transfer reopens the door for racially divided amenities, paying homage to the Jim Crow period, with potential “Whites Solely” and “Coloured” signage in government-funded workplaces. Nonetheless, beneath the present modification, companies will nonetheless be required to observe state and federal legal guidelines, together with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which declared segregation as unlawful.
“This isn’t only a coverage shift; it’s an ethical disaster,” Melissa Murray, a constitutional legislation professor at New York College, advised NPR. “We’re witnessing the deliberate dismantling of civil rights protections that generations fought to safe.”
The modifications, initiated with out the customary public remark interval, have been carried out to align with new govt orders on range, fairness, and inclusion (DEI). Nevertheless, this sudden shift has sparked accusations of undermining democracy and transparency. An nameless federal worker expressed outrage to NPR.
“That is an outright assault on democratic norms, a covert operation to reintroduce segregation with out public scrutiny,” the unnamed worker remarked.
Different federal companies along with NIH have acquired directives to ignore earlier anti-segregation clauses of their contracting processes.
Inquiries to the Common Companies Administration about bypassing established procedural protocols have been met with obscure assurances.
“The GSA is dedicated to implementing govt orders successfully and promptly,” GSA spokesperson Will Powell acknowledged.
Kara Sacilotto, an legal professional specializing in federal contracts, identified the broad assault on civil rights, noting that the concentrating on of those protections extends past racial traces to incorporate gender id, beforehand expanded beneath the Obama administration.
“It’s clear the goal is not only racial equality however all types of civil rights progress,” Sacilotto defined.
Professor Murray added, “This isn’t only a rollback of civil rights protections—it’s a sign that we’re stepping again right into a darker previous, one which we’ve labored exhausting to maneuver past.”
The put up Return to Jim Crow: Federal Laws Rolled Again to Permit Segregation appeared first on The Washington Informer.
