State and federal governments want to help minority businesses, known as disadvantaged business enterprises, as it’s officially called. But how can you tell whether the person owning the business fits into the program’s somewhat vague guidelines?

“A lot of government agencies have programs designed to help minority and women-owned businesses win government contracts,” former state Attorney General Rob McKenna told Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross. “Sometimes they’re referred to as disadvantaged business enterprises, because historically women and people of color have suffered from sexism and racism, which has made it harder for them to compete.”

Of issue is the case of a Caucasian-appearing Lynnwood man named Ralph Taylor, who determined in a DNA test that he was six percent indigenous and four percent Sub-Saharan African. Using this information, he then applied for the benefits that minority owners receive and was rejected. Taylor, owner of Orion Insurance Group, is currently suing the state and federal governments to be recognized as a minority.

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“The government folks who looked at his application said, ‘Hey, he looks white.’ And also pointed out that he was not able to directly document any non-white ancestors. It was a DNA test that said he was 90 percent European, 6 percent indigenous American, and 4 percent Sub-Saharan African,” McKenna said.

“So the fact that he may have had some relative way, way back in time who was Sub-Saharan African, doesn’t really qualify him for a disadvantaged enterprise program designed to help, for example, African-Americans overcome the legacy of slavery and institutionalized racism in our country.”

Law for minority businesses is vague, so there may be a case

Where Mr. Taylor may have a case is that the program itself doesn’t feature a particular standard with regards to who is what race. It remains a grey area when basing decisions on both appearance and DNA tests.

“Mr. Taylor has a point there. If the program for minority-owned businesses doesn’t really define what it means to be a minority, and you leave it to the subjective evaluation of the government officials reviewing the application, it does create potential problems,” McKenna said.

“So I think that disadvantaged business programs are a good thing, and Mr. Taylor is trying to make a point here about the vagueness of the regulations. But the fact is that at the margin, these aren’t easy decisions to make sometimes. Allowing people to self-identify as a race based on DNA tests doesn’t seem particularly helpful.”