Opinion: Race, the construction industry and the Francis Scott Key Bridge

President Biden has struggled to link the benefits of his signature infrastructure laws to disaffected Black labor. When he touts the jobs created by federally backed construction projects — such as his recent remarks in Arizona about a semiconductor chip factory — it only reminds some Black working-class men about their exclusion from the industry.

The collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge is an opportunity for Biden to change the storyline. The bridge, a major conduit over the Baltimore Harbor, collapsed after being struck by a cargo ship Tuesday. It spans more than 1.5 miles across the Patapsco River and, as a major connecting point for the region, will need to be rebuilt.

Biden can use the rebuilding process to champion Black labor in the construction industry. If done right, he can incorporate the issue in his efforts to generate enthusiasm among Black working-class men broadly. He can use it to demonstrate awareness of how the civil construction industry needs to address a history of excluding Black labor.

Throughout his term, Biden has fumbled moments to crusade for racial reforms in construction and, in particular, to stand with Black men seeking skilled jobs and contracting opportunities. The high rates of displacement and discouragement stem from a history of union racism and contractor preference for immigrants. As such, the racial demographic in the construction industry is now 60 percent white, 30 percent Hispanic, and 5 percent Black American, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has documented rampant racial discrimination in the industry. In its 2023 report, “ Building for the Future: Advancing Equal Opportunity in the Construction Industry, ” EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows wrote, “for years, some of the most egregious incidents of harassment and discrimination investigated by the [EEOC] have arisen in the construction industry.”

The EEOC has uncovered discrimination in recruitment, apprenticeships and hiring; unequal treatment in training, hours, pay, promotions and layoffs; and many instances of hostile work environments and retaliation for reporting problems such racist graffiti, nooses on job sites, racist slurs, discriminatory union practices and increased danger in assignments.

To be sure, the problems of today have a long origin. In the 1970s, Black workers demanded inclusion through the United Construction Workers Association (UCWA) . It was a union for equity established after a federal court found that Seattle unions were operating in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The UCWA expanded across the country, held protest rallies to demand inclusive hiring and helped people get skilled labor jobs.

However, the surge of immigration since the 1980s provided a source of cheap labor that contractors desired and unions could not hold off, and Black labor was the odd man out. Even during disasters like Hurricane Katrina, federal contractors opted to use the labor of immigrant work crews rather than hire and train Black men from the region.

Today, the consequences can be seen at most construction worksites. In New York City, the construction industry employed 374,000 people in 2020 — 53 percent of whom were immigrants — even as Black men experienced the highest unemployment levels. In Boston, Black labor is largely excluded from construction jobs due to union and contractor bias, according to Travis Watson in “ Union Construction’s Racial Equity and Inclusion Charade. ” NPR reported on the issue as well.

Congress attempted to address the problem of exclusion in the infrastructure law. The Congressional Black Caucus supported a provision to encourage the hiring and training of under-represented populations. It did so in the expectation of thousands of good-paying jobs for their constituents in renovating the highway, bridge, tunnel and public building projects in Newark, Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta, Charlotte, Baltimore and other cities.

Harry Holzer, a Georgetown University professor of public policy, wrote that the civil projects will require hundreds of thousands of skilled workers, many with high school and some college education. And the construction projects will trigger employment to produce the equipment and materials needed to complete the infrastructure projects.

Biden can use the Francis Scott Key Bridge tragedy to raise another issue of Black inclusion in construction as well. He can point out the broad array of employment and contracting opportunities denied to Black middle-class job seekers. Most people think of construction employment as the worksite crews seen on the streets — in fact, the industry is directed by general contracting companies that are among the largest corporations in America.

According to industry analyst Kathryn Thompson, the construction industry is experiencing a golden age due to the federal infrastructure investments. These general contractors employ thousands of people for positions supplemental to construction worksite occupations: managers, administrators, purchasing agents, quality control inspectors, designers, site permitting agents and more. Yet Black middle-class professionals are often as excluded from such opportunities as the working class from the skilled construction jobs. Biden can champion reforms across an industry if the administration has the resolve.

To date, the administration has failed to hold states to account for equity planning as encouraged in the infrastructure legislation. According to John Warren, publisher of the San Diego Voice and Viewpoint, prime contractors fail to place ads for construction jobs in Black news sites, despite state and federal mandates.

The Biden administration, to be fair, has shown signs of concern. For example, Maryland received $7 billion in infrastructure monies to renovate six passenger rail projects, including the construction of the Frederick Douglass Tunnel, which will replace a 150-year old tunnel in Baltimore. And the Department of Labor awarded $65 million to states to expand access to apprenticeships in high-demand industries like civil construction, of which Maryland received $650,000 in federal grants and matched it with $6 million in competitive funding under Gov. Wes Moore.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse is a moment for Biden to show concern for rebuilding a vital bridge — and for building a bridge of inclusion for Black American workers in the construction industry as well.

Roger House is professor emeritus of American Studies at Emerson College and the author of “ Blue Smoke : The Recorded Journey of Big Bill Broonzy” and “ South End Shout : Boston’s Forgotten Music Scene in the Jazz Age.” His forthcoming book is “Five Hundred Years of Black Self Governance” (Louisiana State University Press).

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