Minority owned businesses were never a diversity initiative

Gov. Mike Braun and Attorney General Todd Rokita have made their position clear: Indiana’s use of race and sex-conscious measures in state contracting is, in their view, unconstitutional. The Braun administration is now moving away from those measures and toward what it calls a system based on “Merit, Excellence, and Innovation.”

As Black Hoosiers, we have spent time thinking about what that message means — not simply politically or legally, but personally. And we keep returning to one truth: We were never a diversity initiative.

Women and minorities do not become talented because government recognizes them. They do not become entrepreneurs because a program certifies their businesses. They do not become worthy competitors because someone establishes a participation goal.

We were capable before DEI had a name.

We have built businesses, created jobs, educated children, cared for families, served our country, led churches, invented, manufactured, farmed, practiced medicine and law, constructed buildings and strengthened communities. We have contributed to Indiana’s economy and America’s prosperity even during generations when the doors of opportunity were not simply difficult to open but were intentionally closed.

That history matters in this debate.

State targets ‘discriminatory’ DEI practices, cancels minority business conference

Indiana created its supplier diversity program in 1983 to increase participation by minority and women-owned businesses in state contracting. The state itself has commissioned disparity studies examining whether minority-owned firms face barriers and whether their share of government contracting dollars reflects their availability in the marketplace. Those studies consistently show the marketplace does not favor our labor.

When we talk about “merit,” we should remember that Black businesses have demonstrated merit under circumstances in which access to capital, relationships, networks and government opportunities has not always been distributed equally. And by the government’s own admission, not one majority owned business has suffered due to the inclusion of “other” in this statutory scheme.

We competed anyway. We built anyway. We succeeded anyway.

That is why the Greater Indianapolis NAACP refuses to allow this moment to become a message to Black Hoosiers that our value is somehow disappearing due to the exclusion from a government program.

Braun can eliminate an initiative. Rokita can issue an advisory opinion. The state can change its procurement policies. But no government action can repeal our value.

To every Black entrepreneur wondering what comes next: compete. To the young Black professional wondering whether Indiana still has a place for your ambition: build. To Black-owned companies pursuing state contracts: walk into those rooms knowing you belong there— not because someone lowered a standard, but because generations before you succeeded while carrying burdens their competitors often never had to face.

And Indiana should understand something, too.

A “level playing field” cannot simply be a slogan. If merit is truly going to be the standard, then opportunity must be visible, procurement processes must be transparent, relationships cannot determine who gets through the door, and every qualified Hoosier business must genuinely have the chance to compete.

Removing a diversity goal does not automatically remove disparity and Black Hoosiers are not asking Indiana to manufacture our excellence. Our history already proves it.

You are seen. You are heard. You are valuable.

And our businesses, labor, leadership, creativity and purchasing power are necessary to Indiana’s future.

DEI did not create Black excellence. Government did not give it to us, and government cannot take it away.

As Indiana enters its next chapter, we will be there; building, competing, contributing and reminding state leaders that women and minorities were never the initiative. We were and always will be part of the advancement of Indiana’s culture and economy and deserve to be respected as such.