The Federal Government Is Rolling Back DEI. Who Will Stand Up Now?
Across America, the DEI rug is being pulled out from under our feet. Diversity, equity, and inclusion—once seen as tools of progress—are now targets. That’s not an exaggeration. Black-owned businesses that gained access to government contracts through fair set-aside programs are now being tossed out. Not because they failed to perform. Not because they lacked capacity. But simply because they are Black-owned.
And somehow, there’s barely a whimper.
A Catch-22—or Something Worse?
Here’s the bitter irony: Black-owned businesses were only offered a seat at the table because they had long been shut out. Now, they’re being pushed back out the door—for the same reason they were let in. Is this a classic Catch-22? Or just racism with a new coat of paint?
Either way, the result is the same. Generational Black businesses are being dismantled. Reputations are being dragged. And the old lie—that Black means less capable—is being sold again as truth.
The Dangerous Narrative of Inferiority
We’ve all heard it: Black businesses don’t deliver. Their service is worse. Their quality is lacking. It’s a lie. A dangerous one. But it’s a lie that sticks.
Let a Black-owned firm miss one deadline, and suddenly they’re proof that all DEI programs are failures. Meanwhile, white-led firms with a history of mediocrity are given grace, excuses, and second chances.
That’s why the old saying—Black folks have to work twice as hard to get half as far—isn’t just folklore. It’s a lived reality. But it’s not because Black businesses are less. It’s because the system demands more just to break even.
Blue Cities Are the Last Line of Defense
Here’s the truth: cities like New Orleans, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, Houston, and others that still control their own contracting budgets are the last safe harbor for Black-owned businesses. But it’s not enough to talk about equity—we need intentionality.
Local leaders must be bold. They must ensure Black-owned firms with proven excellence get the contracts, the access, and the room to grow. Anything less is complicity.
This is not about handouts. This is about hiring companies that consistently deliver, who’ve built their businesses through grit, skill, and community reinvestment—despite being locked out of government work for decades.
Related: Strategies for Blue Cities in Red States
Excellence Is Not Optional. It’s Essential.
We also must speak truth to our own community: in this hostile environment, excellence is the only option. Every contract matters. Every deliverable must shine. Because Black-owned businesses are being watched under a microscope. A tiny crack becomes a crater. A small mistake becomes a scandal.
Unfair? Yes. But this is the battlefield we’re on.
The answer isn’t to give up. The answer is to outperform, outlast, and outmaneuver the system that wants us to fail. We’ve done it before. We’ll do it again.
This Is a Two-Way Street
Politicians must be intentional in their support of Black-owned firms. But Black-owned businesses must also be relentless in their pursuit of quality and accountability. This moment calls for both vision and vigilance.
We can’t afford to stumble. Because our missteps will be weaponized. Our wins? They’ll be ignored unless we make them loud.
Final Thoughts: We’re Not Inferior. We’re Invisible—Until We Refuse to Be.
The lie about Black-owned business inferiority lives on because we let others tell our story. No more. It’s time to highlight Black excellence in service, delivery, innovation, and reliability.
We build with less. We thrive despite. And we succeed when no one expects us to.
Now is the time for cities to choose: equity or erasure? Progress or pretense?
Black-owned businesses are not a risk. They are the proof that progress works—if we’re brave enough to back it up.
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu
Publisher — Black Source Media
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu
We love great stories. We can remember things better when there is a story attached to the details——I know a sign shop with data to support this reality!