By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Nationwide Correspondent, @StacyBrownMedia
With the white sheets eliminated, the hoods now off, and the canine whistles as overt as they had been throughout Jim Crow and the battle for civil rights within the mid-Twentieth century, a conservative group that spearheaded the Supreme Court docket’s overturning of affirmative motion now has set its sights on Black girls.
Edward Blum, a conservative activist, based the American Alliance for Equal Rights nonprofit, which has filed a lawsuit in opposition to Fearless Fund, an Atlanta-based enterprise capital fund.
The lawsuit alleges that Fearless Fund “is participating in illegal racial discrimination by proscribing eligibility for its grant competitors to solely Black girls entrepreneurs.”
The authorized motion cited the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and was filed in federal Court docket in Atlanta. Fearless Fund, established in 2019 by distinguished Black girls, together with Cosby Present actress Keshia Knight Pulliam, entrepreneur Arian Simone, and company govt Ayana Parsons, goals to assist and empower Black girls who personal small companies.
Notable buyers within the fund embrace Financial institution of America, Costco Wholesale, Basic Mills, Mastercard, and JPMorgan Chase.
The lawsuit reportedly marks Blum’s first authorized problem since his group’s victory within the Supreme Court docket in June.
The Court docket rejected affirmative motion in collegiate admissions, ruling in opposition to race-conscious scholar admissions insurance policies utilized by establishments like Harvard College and the College of North Carolina.
Blum’s group had argued that such insurance policies unfairly discriminated in opposition to white and Asian American candidates.
Blum’s lawsuit focuses on Fearless Fund’s “Fearless Strivers Grant Contest,” which gives $20,000 in grants, digital instruments, and mentorship alternatives to Black girls enterprise house owners.
The American Alliance for Equal Rights claims that white and Asian American members of their group have been excluded from the grant program solely based mostly on race.
Fearless Fund has but to reply to the allegations.
In an interview with Reuters, Blum acknowledged that the lawsuit is just the start of his efforts to problem race-based insurance policies utilized by personal companies by way of the American Alliance for Equal Rights.
He mentioned he goals to construct upon the success of the instances in opposition to Harvard and UNC, filed by his group, College students for Honest Admissions, which led to the Supreme Court docket’s landmark ruling in June.
“The frequent theme of those organizations is to problem within the courts using racial classifications and preferences in our nation’s insurance policies,” Blum mentioned, as reported by Reuters.
This text was initially printed by NNPA Newswire.
