NAACP – We Need a Disparity Study

The time is now.

NAACP – We Need a Disparity Study

By Jim Vincent, President, NAACP

The NAACP is calling for the state of Rhode Island to fund and complete a Disparity Study. A Disparity Study determines whether a governmental entity is currently or has previously engaged in exclusionary practices in their solicitation and award of contracts to minority owned business enterprises (MBE).

Such a study looks at the disparity between the availability of these forms in the market area and their utilization through a calculation referred to as a disparity index.

Rhode Island has not conducted a disparity study in over 20 years.

The increase in our population of people of color in the State would suggest that the number of businesses owned and operated by people of color has increased. 

A Rhode Island Disparity Study is necessary to establish whether the State’s practices are preventing MBEs from participating in the procurement process and whether these firms are being afforded access to capital and other resources. 

Jim Vincent, president, N.A.A.C.P. Providence Branch. Vincent is a contributing writer to RINewsToday.com