One of the most serious opportunity gaps when it comes to race is around who gets jobs. The unemployment rate for African Americans in the Chicago area is more than 17 percent—nearly twice the rate for whites. For Latinos, it’s around 13 percent. With numbers like that, most governments around here still have programs to get more minority contractors into the hiring pool.

As part of our Race: Out Loud series, we ask: Are opportunities for construction work equal among different races and who monitors these programs to ensure fairness

Race and construction: Who gets the jobs?