Was Luke Bresette a Victim of "Disadvantaged business enterprises"? -- 35 Percent of Contracts for $201 Million Expansion at Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport Awarded to Minority Firms

A 10-year-old boy is dead.

An information sign at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Birmingham, Alabama crushed Luke Bresette of Kansas.

 

A 300-400 pound information sign at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport fell on Luke Bresette and killed him. The airport is undergoing federal funded $201 million in renovations, with 35 percent of the contracts going to minority firms (blacks firms, though blacks are 74 percent of Birmingham's population)

As the Birmingham News notes, the flight in “a flight information display sign, estimated to weigh between 300-400 pounds, peeled away from the wall at the newly-renovated airport on Friday afternoon, falling on Heather Bresette and three of her sons: Luke, 10, Sam, 8 and Tyler, 5. Luke was pronounced dead at Children's of Alabama within an hour.” [Kansas mother recovering after Birmingham airport sign collapse not yet told of her son's death, said the family's priest, Al.com, 3-25-13]

Why does this tragedy deserve mention? Because we are talking about the “Tragic City” – 74 percent black Birmingham – where the almost entirely black political establishment ‘party’s like it’s 1963’ on a daily basis.

Spend $300,000 to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of 1963 and Civil Rights?

No problem!

Spend $300,000 (of a four year, $1.2 million agreement) to help fund the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama event at Barber Motorsports Park - an event that has already created an $80 million economic on the area – and generate positive news for the city?

No way!

The event wasn’t black enough [Birmingham council puts the brakes on funding for Indy car race, Fox 6 Birmingham, 3-26-13]:

"What are other cities contributing to this? Birmingham contributes the support for everything," Valorie Abbott, Birmingham City Councilor, said. 

Councilman Steven Hoyt questioned why a majority black city should continue to give money to the event run at the Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds. 

"I've seen nobody, nobody who looks like me make any decisions with Barber sports. None. Zero," Hoyt said.

You know a place where a lot of decisions are made that look like you Councilman Hoyt?

The Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, where the black airport President and CEO Al Denson gets paid $398,549 a year – which dwarfs the salary of the general manager at Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta, though the latter has 30 times the passengers a month as Birmingham…

 

About as un-august a group of elected officials as you can get -- notice the '50th Anniversary" placards in the background...

Councilman Hoyt has made a career out of promoting only the interests of the black citizens of Birmingham, caring little for their economic wellbeing if it means enriching white people or executing contracts with a white owned firm.

The Birmingham City Council – seven of nine members are black – passed a minority inclusion ordinance back in 2007 for all city contracts.

But what of the airport? [Airport meets minority participation goal for expansion project, Al.com, 11-27-12]:

At least 35 percent of businesses with contracts to perform work on the $201 million expansion of Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport are owned by minorities, meeting or exceeding a goal set before the project began, airport executive director Al Denson said today. 

The issue of minority participation in the project was raised this afternoon at a briefing on the expansion held for Jefferson County's delegation to the state legislature. Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham, asked for a report on the number of contractors and sub-contractors that are certified as "disadvantaged business enterprises" by the U.S. Department of Transportation. 

Those businesses typically are owned by African Americans or women. The Airport Authority board of directors has closely monitored contracts to ensure minority participation with the goal of helping smaller minority-owned firms develop contacts and relationships that will lead to growth. 

"These relationships should translate into jobs," Denson said. 

Denson also updated the delegation on the status of construction. The first phase of the project is expected to be complete within a couple of months, and the second and final phase in 2014. Among the improvements that travelers may notice will be the single security checkpoint, as opposed to multiple checkpoints in the current facility, and the addition of loading bridges, which currently aren't available at every gate.

While the elected black officials in Birmingham constantly party “like it’s 1963” in ‘The Tragic City,’ 10-year-old Luke Bresette of Kansas is dead.

He’s dead.

A sign at Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport fell on him.

Why is this happening in a supposed first-world nation, where American Exceptionalism makes us that “Shining City on a Hill”? 

There are moments where you realize so many people must be… punished.

This story is one of them.

‘Disadvantaged business enterprises’ are awarded at least 35 percent of the contracts at this airport, showing once again that content of character or merit matter in Black-Run America (BRA).

Nor for that matter, does the life of a 10-year-old from Kansas. After all, he’s a white kid from a white family who might be fans of NASCAR or Indy racing.

No blacks faces there, right Councilman Hoyt?

Lots of black faces at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport though… especially in leadership positions - authority positions - awarding lucrative contracts to friends only because of the color of their skin.

Keep partying like it's 1963. 

Keep partying. 

Because when the party ends, there's gonna be a hell of a mess to clean up. 

Black-Run America (BRA) will end.