Epitaph: Minority Content in the American OEM Automotive Industry
Epitaph: Minority Content in the American OEM Auto Industry
General Motors chief of purchasing, Bo Andersson, recently admitted that GM did not meet its minority content “target” for 2005. He further stated that such targets would no longer be set, because they are not realistic anymore. GM has clearly abandoned its knee-jerk adherence to affirmative action in selecting—or outright creating—suppliers from the American black community.
It is our prediction that, when MCRI passes, GM will say it was “forced” to abandon its programs. This is simply not true. GM is bailing out of affirmative action in minority content and pretending that it is being forced to do so. The MCRI does not apply to private business!
The minority business enterprise as an American OEM auto industry supply “category” has peaked, and is shrinking along with the market share of the American auto industry. The MBE could disappear in the next two years. This will be due to globalization—to foreign owners and partners’ taking over. They would do this only as investment, and will not tolerate money-losing operations. MBE’s are money-losing social-engineering operations, not business decisions based on sound economics. (The auto industry started by trying to help American blacks, and ended up spending billions to avoid being called racists.)
The American OEM auto industry wants its hypocritical MBE racket to die quietly. A grateful government, which has long enjoyed having American business do its job while giving credit to elected officials, will not complain unless they get caught (for instance by RaceFreeZone). Then they will howl that they knew nothing about how the auto industry handled its program to “elevate” minorities by using old-fashioned racism—treating minorities like pets (to paraphrase Shelby Steele).
The auto industry handled the MBE mandates by creating the fronts and the mythology, but it no longer has the financial or personal resources to maintain this fifty-year fiction of creating auto supply businesses without training or educating anyone. A few people got rich on the hopes and dreams of others who never benefited at all.
We at RaceFreeZone do not want the MBE program to die quietly. We believe the death of minority content should be trumpeted far and wide as a victory for free enterprise.
General Motors chief of purchasing, Bo Andersson, recently admitted that GM did not meet its minority content “target” for 2005. He further stated that such targets would no longer be set, because they are not realistic anymore. GM has clearly abandoned its knee-jerk adherence to affirmative action in selecting—or outright creating—suppliers from the American black community.
It is our prediction that, when MCRI passes, GM will say it was “forced” to abandon its programs. This is simply not true. GM is bailing out of affirmative action in minority content and pretending that it is being forced to do so. The MCRI does not apply to private business!
The minority business enterprise as an American OEM auto industry supply “category” has peaked, and is shrinking along with the market share of the American auto industry. The MBE could disappear in the next two years. This will be due to globalization—to foreign owners and partners’ taking over. They would do this only as investment, and will not tolerate money-losing operations. MBE’s are money-losing social-engineering operations, not business decisions based on sound economics. (The auto industry started by trying to help American blacks, and ended up spending billions to avoid being called racists.)
The American OEM auto industry wants its hypocritical MBE racket to die quietly. A grateful government, which has long enjoyed having American business do its job while giving credit to elected officials, will not complain unless they get caught (for instance by RaceFreeZone). Then they will howl that they knew nothing about how the auto industry handled its program to “elevate” minorities by using old-fashioned racism—treating minorities like pets (to paraphrase Shelby Steele).
The auto industry handled the MBE mandates by creating the fronts and the mythology, but it no longer has the financial or personal resources to maintain this fifty-year fiction of creating auto supply businesses without training or educating anyone. A few people got rich on the hopes and dreams of others who never benefited at all.
We at RaceFreeZone do not want the MBE program to die quietly. We believe the death of minority content should be trumpeted far and wide as a victory for free enterprise.
posted by Jack Lifton at 9:35 PM
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