Twenty years ago, a white contractor might have paid a black or Hispanic worker a small bonus to create a new corporation in the employee's name.

The white contractor would then do the actual work, with the employee contributing only his name and ethnic background.

In a vote of 6 to 3, the Justices held that the law violated the right of white contractors to equal protection of law.

The new program also gives incentives to white contractors who use black companies in private projects.

Contractors said they doubted the study would withstand the legal challenges that would surely come from white contractors.

This decision was based on the Court's conclusion that the statutory racial preference violated the white contractors' 14th Amendment right to equal protection of the laws.

The Court held that the racial set-aside deprived white contractors of the equal protection of the laws.

But privately some speak of white contractors who felt pressured to join ventures with black businesses whose owners were politically well connected.

That would have a direct adverse impact on white contractors.

But a few days later, he found out that the white contractor he was counting on already had a full roofing crew.