Citizens in Charge

To get contracts with Kansas City government, a company must make a good-faith effort at sharing the contract with businesses owned by minorities or women.

To Bill Torres, a Hispanic owner of an engineering consulting business, that requirement forces companies to do the right thing: Share the pie with businesspeople often discriminated against in a world dominated by white men.

But to opponents of affirmative action, the requirement is itself a form of discrimination they want to eliminate.