Document 5.15.3: Statement by President Nixon on Minority Business Enterprise, March 5, 1969.

In March 1969, President Nixon established the Office of Minority Business Enterprise (OMBE), which sought to support African American and other minority business owners with federal support.

Blacks, Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, Indians, and others must increasingly be encouraged to enter the field of business…not only as workers, but also as managers and owners…

What we are doing is recognizing that in addition to the basic problems of poverty itself, there is an additional need to stimulate those enterprises that can give members of minority groups confidence that…Blacks, Mexican-Americans, and others can participate in a growing economy on the basis of equal opportunity at the top of the ladder as well as on its lower rungs.