Thousands of Black, Latino and other minority business owners are scrambling to prove that their races put them at a “social disadvantage” after a federal judge declared a key provision of a popular federal program unconstitutional, extending the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent retreat from affirmative action.

The Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development program was meant to open a pipeline to billions in government contracting dollars for historically disadvantaged groups. But in July, a federal judge in Tennessee struck down a provision of the program that equated race with social disadvantage.