KELLIS E. PARKER KEYNOTE ADDRESS[dagger]

St. John's Law Review, Fall 2003 by Meeks, Gregory W

Earlier I made reference to the administration's insider approach to granting uncompetitive contracts for postwar reconstruction of Iraq. To be truthful, I do not want to have to fight for the inclusion of minority businesses in the rebuilding of countries our government has destroyed. I oppose this war. I do not think the policy of preemption is going to get us anywhere. A national security strategy and foreign policy based on preemption is a stop and frisk policy in a global context. It will only make the world a much more dangerous place especially for American interests. This includes American business and by definition minority businesses.

Furthermore, the administration's approach to international relations will consume much-needed funds that could be applied to peaceful, productive, and humanitarian purposes at home as well as abroad. There is no way that America is going to be able to spend tens of billions of dollars a year on Iraqi occupation and reconstruction and at the same time promote equal opportunity and the development of people of color communities at home.

I close by wishing this conference the best of success in its deliberations and the conference participants the best of success in carrying out its recommendations. I sincerely look forward to working with you in closing the gap, innovating corporate law, formulating public policy, and leveraging our collective creativity to economically develop communities of color.

[dagger] This Article is based upon the Kellis E. Parker Keynote Address delivered by Congressman Gregory W. Meeks of the sixth Congressional district at the Race, Corporate Law, and Economic Development Conference hosted by the Northeast People of Color and the St. John's University School of Law Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights and Economic Development held at the Manhattan campus of St. John's University on April 5, 2003.

1 123 S. Ct. 2325 (2003).

2 123 S. Ct. 2411 (2003).

3 Regents of the Univ. of Cal. v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978) (holding that special-admission standards violated the Equal Protection Clause but proclaiming the goal of an integrated student body was a compelling state interest).

4 Franklin D. Raines, Address at the Howard University Charter Day Convocation (Mar. 8, 2002) (stressing the importance of wealth and how asset accumulation has caused the lack of wealth in black America), http://www.fanniemae.com/media/speeches/speech.jtmlrepID=/media/speeches/2002/speech_192.xml&counter=l&p=media&s=executive Speeches.

5 Id.

6 Id.

7 Id.

8 See id.; see also Franklin D. Raines, What Equality Would Look Like: Reflection on the Past, Present and Future, in THE STATE OF BLACK AMERICA 2002 13-27 (Lee A. Daniels ed., 2002).

9 See MELVIN L. OLIVER & THOMAS M. SHAPIRO, BLACK WEALTH/WHITE WEALTH: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON RACIAL INEQUALITY 11-32 (1995) (outlining the historical struggles of African Americans in accumulating wealth).

10 Jeffery McKinney, 30 Years of the B.E. 100s: Banking on Diversity, BLACK ENTERPRISE, June 2002, at 217, 227-37 (listing the top black businesses of 2002).