The Democrats’ diversity hypocrisy: 2% of contracts go to minority firms

At convention time, the Democratic Party prominently displays its ethnic and racial diversity – in the crowd of delegates and on the stage.

But when it comes time to dish out lucrative contracts to political consulting firms, new figures show that only about 2 percent of that money goes to black-owned or Hispanic-run firms.
As reported by Vox, a group called  PowerPAC+, which supports minority candidates, put out a report in 2014 challenging contracting practices by the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The report found that out of the $514 million the three groups awarded to contractors over recent campaign cycles, only 1.7 percent went to firms that had at least one owner or principal who was black, Latino, Asian American, Pacific Islander, or Native American.

At the same time, 44 percent of the Democratic electorate in 2012 came from those minority groups.
As Vox explains, the numbers are even worse than they look:

“Here's the alarming part, though: Democrats are promoting minority-owned contractors on their own website, and then not awarding them any contracts. From the PowerPAC+ report (emphasis added):

“The Democratic National Committee provides an opportunity for MBE (Minority Business Enterprise) firms to submit requests to be considered for contracts via its website, www.Democrats.org. Under its Supplier Diversity List link, the Party states that, "The DNC is committed to diversity in the vendors and contractors we use, and we encourage minority-owned businesses—including those owned by women, veterans, and members of the LGBT community—to register for contract consideration." On that same link it also provides a list of 28 MBE firms that it has already vetted. Of these, we were only able to identify two that received contracts in either the 2010 or 2012 cycle.”

“That paragraph makes it clear that Democrats aren't dealing with a pipeline problem. They're not having any problem finding minority-owned contractors. They're simply not awarding contracts to the contractors in their own directory.”