Atlanta’s business community is standing behind Mayor Andre Dickens after he decided to turn down tens of millions of dollars in federal airport funding rather than abandon the city’s diversity and inclusion programs, according to Bloomberg. The move has intensified a growing national dispute between city governments and the current administration over equity-based contracting policies.
Katie Kirkpatrick, president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, said the city must protect the initiatives that opened doors for minority-owned companies at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, even if it means losing federal aid.
“It’s the DNA of who we are,” she said during a Bloomberg interview. “It doesn’t change based on the policies or the perspectives at the federal level. Changing that, I think, would be inauthentic for our city.”…