Revised City of South Bend Disparity Study Report

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City of South Bend Disparity Study 2020 disparities in commercial loan denial rates between Black business owners compared to similarly situated non minority-owned business owners are strong evidence of the continuing effects of discrimination. 58 The Eighth Cir- cuit Court of Appeals took a "hard look" at the evidence Congress considered, and concluded that the legislature had spent decades compiling evidence of race discrimination in government highway contracting, of barriers to the formation of minority-owned construction businesses, and of barriers to entry. In rebuttal, [the plaintiffs] presented evidence that the data were susceptible to multiple interpretations, but they failed to present affirmative evidence that no remedial action was necessary because minority-owned small businesses enjoy non-discriminatory access to and participation in highway contracts. Thus, they failed to meet their ultimate burden to prove that the DBE program is unconstitutional on this ground.59 S. Evaluate Anecdotal Evidence of Race- and Gender -Based Barriers A study should further explore anecdotal evidence of experiences with dis- crimination in contracting opportunities because it is relevant to the question of whether observed statistical disparities are due to discrimination and not to some other non-discriminatory cause or causes. As observed by the Supreme Court, anecdotal evidence can be persuasive because it "brought the cold [sta- tistics] convincingly to life ."60 Testimony about discrimination practiced by prime contractors, bonding companies, suppliers, and lenders has been found relevant regarding barriers both to minority firms' business formation and to their success on governmental projects.61 While anecdotal evidence is insuffi- cient standing alone, "[p]ersonal accounts of actual discrimination or the effects of discriminatory practices may, however, vividly complement empiri- cal evidence. Moreover, anecdotal evidence of a [government's] institutional practices that exacerbate discriminatory market conditions are [sic] often par- ticularly probative.i62 "[W]e do not set out a categorical rule that every case must rise or fall entirely on the sufficiency of the numbers. To the contrary, 58. Id.; Western States, 407 F.3d at 993; Northern Contracting, Inc. v Illinois Deportment of Transportation, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3226 at *64 (N.D. III., Mar. 3, 2004) ("Northern Contracting 1"). 59. Sherbrooke, 345 F.3d. at 970; see, also, Adorond VII, 228 F.3d at 1175 (Plaintiff has not met its burden "of introducing credible, particularized evidence to rebut the government's initial showing of the existence of a compelling interest in remedying the nationwide effects of past and present discrimination in the federal construction procurement subcon- tracting market"). 60. International Brotherhood of Teamsters v United States, 431 U.S. 324, 399 (1977). 61. Adorand VII, 228 F.3d at 1168-1172. 62. Concrete Works Il, 36 F.3d at 1520,1530. 34 0 2020 Colette Holt & Associates, All Rights Reserved.