Conservative group behind Aff. Action lawsuit is now going after BW targeted VC fund/*founders respond /* co-founder steps down
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You see it.
Minority contracts, SBA now funding all this shyt
Judge refuses to immediately block grant program for Black women entrepreneurs
A federal judge in Atlanta is allowing a venture capital firm to continue offering a grant program only to Black women entrepreneurs. Senior U.S.
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Judge refuses to immediately block grant program for Black women entrepreneurs
CORRECTS PHOTO CREDIT TO CURLAN CAMPBELL The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks outside the Richard B. Russell federal courthouse in Atlanta, on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, in support of a grant program for Black women entrepreneurs. A judge ruled Tuesday that the program can continue, saying a lawsuit arguing it illegally excluded other races was not likely to succeed. (AP Photo/Curlan Campbell)
ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge in Atlanta ruled Tuesday that a venture capital firm can continue offering a grant program only to Black women entrepreneurs, saying a lawsuit arguing it illegally excluded other races was not likely to succeed.
Senior U.S. Judge Thomas Thrash denied a preliminary injunction that would have blocked the grants by the Atlanta-based Fearless Fund. The judge issued the decision in court after hearing arguments from attorneys and said he planned to issue a written order by the end of the week.
The Fearless Fund is a tiny player in the approximately $200 billion global venture capital market, but Tuesday’s ruling was a significant victory for the firm, which has become symbolic of the fight over corporate diversity policies. The lawsuit against it could be a test case, as the battle over considerations on race shifts to the workplace following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling ending affirmative action in college admissions.
The injunction was sought by the American Alliance for Equal Rights, a nonprofit founded by anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum, the man behind the admissions cases the Supreme Court ruled on in June.
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Blum said the alliance plans to appeal the decision.
“Our nation’s civil rights laws do not permit racial distinctions because some groups are overrepresented in various endeavors, while others are under-represented,” he said in a statement.
The fund’s founders rallied with the Rev. Al Sharpton outside the courthouse after the decision.
“We will continue to run the nation’s first venture capital fund that is built by women of color for women of color,” Fearless Fund CEO and co-founder Arian Simone told a crowd of supporters.
The alliance argues in a lawsuit that the fund’s Fearless Strivers Grant Contest, which awards $20,000 to Black women who run businesses, violates a section of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 prohibiting racial discrimination in contracts. It says it has members who are being excluded from the program because of their race and said it’s entitled to relief.
Thrash said the grants were “charitable donations” intended in part to send the message that Black women business owners have suffered discrimination. Donating money is “expressive conduct” entitled to protection under the First Amendment, the judge said, accusing the alliance of wanting the fund to communicate a different message.
“That’s not the way it works,” the judge said.
An attorney for the alliance, Gilbert dikkey, noted the grant program was not open to other racial minorities, including Hispanics. Promoting one race over others is not protected by the First Amendment, he said.
“This case is about whether they can exclude everyone else solely on the basis of race,” he said.
The venture capital firm was established to address barriers that exist in venture capital funding for businesses led by women of color. Less than 1% of venture capital funding goes to businesses owned by Black and Hispanic women, according to the nonprofit advocacy group digitalundivided.
The Fearless Fund runs the grant contest four times a year. To be eligible, a business must be at least 51% owned by a Black woman, among other qualifications.
An attorney for the fund, Mylan Denerstein, said the section of the 1866 Civil Rights Act that the plaintiff was citing was intended to ensure that Black people who were formerly enslaved would have the same rights as whites to enforce contracts after the Civil War.
“The plaintiff is attempting to turn this seminal civil rights law on its head,” she said.
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US judge refuses to block venture capital fund's grants for Black women
A federal judge in Atlanta on Tuesday rejected a bid to bar a small venture capital fund from awarding grants to businesses run by Black women, in a case brought by the anti-affirmative activist behind the successful U.S. Supreme Court challenge to race-conscious college admissions policies.
www.reuters.com
US judge refuses to block venture capital fund's grants for Black women
Nate RaymondSeptember 26, 20235:37 PM EDTUpdated 7 hours ago
Anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum speaks to reporters at the "Rally for the American Dream-Equal Education Rights for All" in Boston
Sept 26 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Atlanta on Tuesday rejected a bid to bar a small venture capital fund from awarding grants to businesses run by Black women, in a case brought by the anti-affirmative activist behind the successful U.S. Supreme Court challenge to race-conscious college admissions policies.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash during a hearing denied a request by Edward Blum's American Alliance for Equal Rights for a preliminary injunction blocking Fearless Fund from considering applications for grants only from businesses led by Black women.
Blum's group had asked the judge to temporarily block the Fearless Fund's "racially exclusive program" while the court considered the merits of the case. The judge said he would issue a written decision later.
With a Saturday deadline approaching for this year's grant applications, Blum's organization quickly filed an emergency appealasking the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to prevent Fearless Fund from picking a grant winner.
It said Thrash's decision rested on a single ground: That Fearless' charitable grant program was a form of speech protected by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, a holding that Blum's group said "would obliterate nondiscrimination law."
Fearless Fund founders Arian Simone and Ayana Parsons in a joint statement said they were pleased that Thrash rejected Blum's attempt to shut down their grant program, part of their initiative to address ongoing racial disparities in the venture capital arena.
"We realize there is still a long road ahead, but today we remain fearless and steadfast in creating pathways that empower women of color entrepreneurs," Simone and Parsons said.
The lawsuit is one of three that Blum's Texas-based group had filed since August challenging grant and fellowship programs designed by the venture capital fund and two law firms to help give Black, Hispanic and other underrepresented minority groups greater career opportunities.
A different group founded by Blum, who is white, was behind the litigation that led to the June decision, powered by the Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority, declaring race-conscious student admissions policies used by Harvard University and the University of North Carolina unlawful.
According to the Fearless Fund, businesses owned by Black women in 2022 received less than 1% of the $288 billion that venture capital firms deployed.
The fund aims to address that disparity, and counts JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), Bank of America (BAC.N) and MasterCard (MA.N) as investors. It has invested nearly $27 million in 40 businesses led by minority women since its founding in 2019.
It also provides grants, and Blum's lawsuit took aim at its Fearless Strivers Grant Contest, which awards Black women who own small businesses $20,000 in grants and other resources to grow their businesses.
The lawsuit alleges that the program's criteria illegally excludes applicants who are white, Asian or other races, in violation of Section 1981 of the 1866 Civil Rights Act.
That federal law was enacted after the U.S. Civil War to guarantee all people the same right to make and enforce contracts "as is enjoyed by white citizens."
While the law was adopted with formerly enslaved Black people in mind, courts have interpreted it for decades as protecting white people from racial discrimination as well.
Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Will Dunham and Alexia Garamfalvi and David Gregorio
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Conservative activist behind US affirmative action cases sues venture capital fund
August 2, 2023
Anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum
Aug 2 (Reuters) - A group founded by the conservative activist instrumental in the U.S. Supreme Court's June decision rejecting affirmative action in collegiate admissions on Wednesday sued an Atlanta-based venture capital fund that supports Black women who own small businesses, accusing it of unlawful racial discrimination.
The nonprofit American Alliance for Equal Rights, founded by affirmative action foe Edward Blum, said in its lawsuit that the firm, called Fearless Fund, is violating Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, a U.S. law barring racial bias in private contracts, by making only Black women eligible in a grant competition. It was filed in federal court in Atlanta.
Fearless Fund was launched in 2019 by three prominent Black women - actress Keshia Knight Pulliam, entrepreneur Arian Simone and corporate executive Ayana Parsons - and counts as investors Bank of America (BAC.N), Costco Wholesale (COST.O), General Mills (GIS.N), Mastercard (MA.N) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N).
Lawsuits brought by another group founded by Blum led to the Supreme Court's June ruling declaring unlawful the race-conscious student admissions policies used by Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. The new lawsuit is Blum's first since that decision.
The conservative-majority court rejected policies used by many U.S. colleges and universities to use race as one of multiple factors in admissions in order to boost enrollment of Black, Hispanic and certain other minority students. Blum's group had argued that such programs discriminated against white and Asian American applicants.
The lawsuit centers on Fearless Fund's Fearless Strivers Grant Contest, which awards Black women who own small businesses $20,000 in grants, digital tools to help them grow their businesses and mentorship opportunities provided in conjunction with Mastercard.
Blum and the Texas-based American Alliance for Equal Rights have said some of the group's approximately 60 members - white and Asian American - have been excluded from the grant program due to their race.
Fearless Fund did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In an interview, Blum said the lawsuit was the first of many he hopes to pursue through the American Alliance for Equal Rights to broadly challenge race-based policies used by private corporations.
The cases before the Supreme Court against Harvard and UNC were filed by the Blum-founded Students for Fair Admissions. Blum, who is white, said he plans to model the new group's cases after that successful litigation.
"The common theme of these organizations is to challenge in the courts the use of racial classifications and preferences in our nation's policies," Blum said
NEW UPDATE
APPEALS COURT STOPPED THEM.
ajc.com
BREAKING | Appeals court pauses Atlanta VC fund grant for Black women
Mirtha Donastorg4–5 minutes
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The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta on Saturday ordered Atlanta-based venture capital firm Fearless Fund to pause grant applications supporting Black female founders while a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination works its way through the court.
The ruling is the first legal win for the nonprofit American Alliance for Equal Rights, a conservative group started by Edward Blum, a key activist in the successful challenge of affirmative action in college admissions. The Alliance sued Fearless in early August, alleging their $20,000 small business grant program was racially discriminatory because it was only for Black women.
The grant application was supposed to close on Saturday, Sept. 30, but must now remain open until further order of the court. No grant winner can be decided yet.
On Tuesday, the Alliance and Fearless met in federal court for the first time, where lawyers for the Alliance asked U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Thrash Jr. to bar Fearless from enforcing the racial eligibility criteria for the grants. But Thrash denied the motion, saying the program sends a message that Fearless wants to support Black women business-owners and that message is protected free speech. In his written opinion, Thrash said the Alliance “failed to carry its burden to clearly show a likelihood of success on the merits and irreparable harm.”
Later Tuesday, the Alliance filed an emergency motion with the 11th Circuit and a three-judge panel overturned Thrash’s ruling. Two judges sided with the Alliance, saying “the plaintiffs have established an irreparable injury,” calling the grant program “racially exclusionary.” One judge dissented, siding with Fearless.
“We respectfully disagree with this court’s decision, appreciate the important points raised by the dissent, and look forward to further appellate review. We remain committed to defending the meaningful work of our clients,” Alphonso David, president and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum and one of the lead lawyers for Fearless, said in a statement.
ExploreUPDATED: Judge dumps injunction bid in Atlanta VC fund discrimination case
Similar conservative organizations have also targeted major corporations like McDonald’s, Target and Progressive, moves that are widely seen as an attack on affirmative action programs in business.
But some venture capitalists who invest in Black founders are now doubling down on their work. Jewel Burks Solomon is a co-founder and managing partner at Collab Capital, an Atlanta-based VC firm that invests solely in Black-led companies. This week at the Intentionally Good Summit, a gathering for diverse founders that was held inside of the Venture Atlanta conference, Burks Solomon was defiant when talking about the recent spate of lawsuits.
“It would not be true to why we started [Collab], why we got in this business, if we made any tweaks or adjustments out of fear,” Burks Solomon said during a panel discussion. “The mission has to stay the same and how we communicate around it, how we collaborate around it should also stay consistent.”
ExploreAtlanta VC fund swept up in fight targeting corporate diversity programs
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@Red Shield @Michael's Black Son @Sukairain @YouMadd? @SupremexKing @Cat piss martini @AndroidHero @Pirius Black @panopticon @johnedwarduado @neotheflyingone @Ishlibidish23 @SJUGRAD13 @BlueHeffner
fukk
This is what I keep saying...
Reparations is DoA
Reparations is DoA
This program is not reparations u could argue affirmative action was though
Its still messed up it’s being targeted by conservatives
You're attached to a failing program. They could make it for ADOS exclusively and link it to lineage and the courts will still kill it because they'll find a judge to do it.
Its over. Just give it up.
