For each and every program designed to implement Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, Affirmative Action, there are attempts to front or commit fraud and abuse of such programs.  Usually a front operation has a Black acting as if he has majority ownership and management when the real operators are behind the scenes and very much Caucasian.  Most of this activity happens at the local level as the penalties for committing federal fraud are certain and hard.  3-5 years in federal prison is not out of the ordinary.

However, with the coming of high powered very slick lobbying firms in Washington, DC a new era has come to be.  The 8a Program which is the best federal affirmative action program in existence has now been infiltrated.  Congress, Congressional Black Caucus included, has allowed lobbyists to get some of their high powered Caucasian clients into the 8a program by representing themselves as Alaska Native Corporations.  That's right, ANC's have 8a benefits and they don't have to actually be Alaskan Natives.  They don't have to be small or disadvantaged either.  In fact, most ANC's are businesses approaching a billion dollars in annual revenue.  They sit back in the offices of their DC lobbyist and "cherry pick" federal contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars or even $1 billion plus.  Remember, these dollars are credited as minority dollars and, in affect, are taken from the pools set aside for real minorities such as Blacks, Hispanics, etc.

Keep in mind that real Native Americans still have to apply to get into the 8a program and meet stringent certification.  They have to show that they live as American Indians such as on a reservation or culturally live as an Apache, Cherokee, etc.  But the ANC's only have to have a subsidiary of their corporation show a paper relationship with some tribe in Alaska such as giving a small portion of the net profits to help the tribe.  It is less than pennies on the dollar.  What the lobbyists have created with the ANC program is a genuine license to steal federal contracts from bona fide and qualified minority businesses.  They are not minority and they are not small (free to have large contracts as opposed to legitimate 8a firms).

They had me going for a while.  Federal agencies began showing great increases in small and minority business contracts.  The reality was they had all gotten on the ANC bandwagon.  It became very apparent when Katrina hit us.  The first minority business report from the US Army Corps of Engineers showed huge numbers.  After I studied and dissected it, we found that 98% of the "minority business" was white owned ANC's.  Black firms had less than 0.5%.  It's outrageous.  Congress should not accept Minority Procurement reports with ANC's in them.

These ANC's are based in places like Greenbelt, MD, Charlotte, NC, Alexandria, VA, Chesapeake, VA and many other such fine southern communities thousands of miles from Alaska.  They give themselves names like Akima, Chenega, etc. They are so arrogant that they are now getting no bid contracts in excess of $1 billion and subcontracting back to corporate giants like Lockheed, Boeing, etc.  It is blatant abuse and quite racist in that it is parasitic to legitimate minority owned 8a firms.

It has now gotten worse.  Alaskan Native Corporations who have exploited Title VI of the Civil Rights Act are now declaring themselves exempt from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.  Yes, they are saying they can discriminate in its hiring and employment practices and be free from litigation.

 Listen to what one person has informed me:  "In May, 2006, I was discriminated against and terminated from my position as Deputy Division Director.  I was the last surviving African American senior manager in the company.  There were previously two other senior managers who were also discriminated against and constructively force to resign, both within a six-month period.  After filing a complaint with the EEOC and participating in the mediation process, it was discovered and claimed by the attorneys for Chenega Corporation that they and their subsidiaries hold sovereign immunity of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the US Codes governing Civil Rights because of their identity as a registered "Indian tribe".  It is inconceivable that with an employee compliment of over 500 and a revenue base of well over $650 million that CTSC and other ANCs, that are primarily operated by Caucasians, have a "License to Discriminate" without repercussions."

Folks, we can't make this up.  This is your federal procurement system making way for corruption and abuse.  As long as it is hurting Blacks, it's OK.

Mr. Alford is the President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. 

Website: http://www.nationalbcc.org/. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .