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The Permissibility Of Non-Remedial Justifications For Racial Preferences In Public Contracting, Michael K. Fridkin

Northern Illinois University Law Review

Under Richmond v. J.A. Croson, if a government agency has participated in the systemic exclusion of contractors on the basis of race, the agency has a compelling interest in remedying that discrimination by favoring contractors whose owners belong to the previously excluded race. This remedial defense of racial preferences is the standard notion of affirmative action in public contracting. Of great interest to the government institutions employing racial preferences, however, is whether any non-remedial objectives--separate and distinct from remedying discrimination--may be relied upon to justify the use racial classifications in public contracting and what goals in particular are compelling enough …