by Jack O'Toole
The state of South Carolina and its largest city took dramatic steps this week to begin dismantling decades-old programs designed to increase participation by women- and-minority-owned businesses in government contracting.
The moves came in response to a series of Trump administration directives aimed at eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at every level of government. In his 2024 campaign, President Donald Trump vowed to end what he termed “very unfair laws” arising from “anti-White feeling” in the country.
Trump supporters, including S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster, have characterized laws calling for specific levels of women and minority participation in contracts as “a racial spoils system.” Opponents say they’re a necessary remedy for previous, and ongoing, discrimination.
State and local governments that refuse to comply with the Trump administration directives stand to lose billions of dollars in federal assistance, as state and Charleston officials stressed when explaining their actions.
‘Constitutional requirement’ or an ‘assault on women’?
Gov. Henry McMaster began the state’s compliance process with a Dec. 3 executive order directing agencies to stop following state laws that set targets for women and minority participation in state contracting.
In comments to reporters, McMaster argued the action was a necessary response to recent court orders calling the legality of such programs into question, as well as a Jan. 21 Trump executive order that called DEI “pernicious discrimination” that violates the law.
“If we didn’t abide, then our people would be subject to losing federal money,” he said. “In all likelihood, those funds would not flow with these restrictions in our procurement law.”
Specifically, McMaster pointed to two laws he called “unconstitutional and discriminatory” — one that requires all departments to report regularly on progress toward a goal of 10% women and minority contracting, and another that directs the S.C. Department of Transportation to hit a 5% participation rate.
But critics like state Rep. Jermaine Johnson, an announced Democratic candidate for governor from Richland County, note the programs targeted by McMaster’s order open up contracting opportunities for a majority of South Carolinians — in particular women, who represent 51% of the state’s population.
“We all know that a lot of these contracts are male dominated, and we’re going to take opportunities away from women?” he told Statehouse Report on Dec. 4. “That’s just wrong, especially in a state where women are still being underpaid, and still almost being treated like second-class citizens.”
League of Women Voters of S.C. Vice President Lynn Teague expanded on those concerns.
“Women will suffer from this,” Teague said. “We see it as part of an attack on the rights of women from every direction, including efforts to pass draconian abortion bans and attacks on the professional status of jobs that are dominated by women.”
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