(RightWing.org) – A federal court has blocked an investment scheme aimed at helping black businesswomen. The capital fund only offered business grants to black women. It turns out running a racist and sexist policy is against the law.
Last September, a federal court in Atlanta rejected a bid from the American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER) to block the Fearless Fund from restricting its business grants to businesses owned by black women. The AAER, which is run by equal rights activist Edward Blum, argued that the Fund was “operating a racially discriminatory program” that violated the 1866 Civil Rights Act. However, US District Judge Thomas Thrash rejected Blum’s request for a preliminary injunction, bizarrely claiming that the program was a form of free speech.
Blum doesn’t have a reputation for backing down easily, though. He’s best known for taking a case on racially biased college admission policies, which discriminated against white and Asian candidates, all the way to the Supreme Court — and winning. He quickly filed an emergency appeal with the 11th Circuit Court. On June 3, Judge Kevin Newsom of that court ruled on his appeal, and in a 2-1 decision blocked the Fearless Fund from continuing with its discriminatory policy.
Giving the decision, Judge Kevin Newsom said racial equality in making contracts is in the public interest, and rejected Judge Thrash’s argument that the racist policy was protected by the First Amendment. He said that while the fund will have to change its rules to be compliant with the law, that’s unimportant compared with the higher priority of “rooting out racial discrimination in all forms.”
In a statement after the decision, Blum thanked the court and said programs based on race are “unjust and polarizing.” He stressed that civil rights laws don’t allow racial discrimination — no matter which race is being discriminated against.
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