Current:Home > FinanceFearless Fund blocked from giving grants only to Black women in victory for DEI critics-LoTradeCoin
Fearless Fund blocked from giving grants only to Black women in victory for DEI critics
View Date:2024-12-24 00:10:00
In a closely watched civil rights case, a panel on the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals blocked Fearless Fund from awarding $20,000 grants to businesses owned by Black women while the case is litigated, siding with conservative activist Edward Blum that the grant program is likely discriminatory.
The appeals court disagreed with a federal judge who ruled in September that the lawsuit was unlikely to prevail on First Amendment grounds.
The defeat for the Atlanta firm working to boost scarce venture capital funding for Black women could have sweeping implications for race-based initiatives in the private sector.
"This is devastating for the Fearless Fund and Foundation, and for the women in which we have invested in. I am shattered for every girl of color who has a dream but will grow up in a nation determined not to give her a shot to live it. On their behalf, we will turn the pain into purpose and fight with all our might," Arian Simone, CEO and founding partner of Fearless Fund and founder of the Fearless Foundation, said in a statement to USA TODAY.
Simone said Fearless Fund was "still open for business."
"The message these judges sent today is that diversity in Corporate America, education, or anywhere else should not exist. If this was truly about exercising free speech with your dollars − an American tradition as old as this nation itself − the results would have been different. Instead, these judges bought what a small group of white men were selling. They countered the rulings of other courts sued on similar grounds," she said.
The Fearless Fund case is part of a growing pushback from conservative activists like Blum, who after last year’s landmark affirmative action victory over race-conscious college admissions, set his sights on the private sector.
"Our nation’s civil rights laws do not permit racial distinctions because some groups are overrepresented in various endeavors, while others are under-represented,” Blum said in a statement. “Programs that exclude certain individuals because of their race such as the ones the Fearless Fund has designed and implemented are unjust and polarizing."
Though it does not technically apply to employers, conservative activists seized on the decision that struck down affirmative action in higher education, arguing it raises fundamental issues about how corporate America addresses workplace inequality. Since then, the nation has seen an uptick in legal challenges to DEI programs. The "anti-woke" backlash has unnerved business leaders who find themselves navigating shifting terrain.
A small player in the venture capital industry, the Fearless Fund was founded by Black women to back Black women, who received less than 1% of the $215 billion in venture capital funding last year. The firm has funded new companies like restaurant chain Slutty Vegan and beauty brand Live Tinted.
U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Thrash Jr., who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, had ruled that the Fearless Fund’s grant program is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment. The 11th Circuit panel disagreed. Two of the three judges are Donald Trump appointees.
“Preliminary injunctive relief is appropriate because Fearless’s contest is,” the panel said, “substantially unlikely to enjoy First Amendment protection, and inflicts irreparable injury."
A lawyer for Fearless Fund said the judges relied on an 1866 law designed to provide economic freedom to newly freed slaves to prohibit the Fearless Foundation from providing grants to Black women.
"This is the first court decision in the 150-plus year history of the post-Civil War civil rights law that has halted private charitable support for any racial or ethnic group. The dissenting judge, the district court and other courts have agreed with us that these types of claims should not prevail," Alphonso David, president and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum and attorney representing Fearless Fund said in a statement. "This is not the final outcome in this case; it is a preliminary ruling without a full factual record."
veryGood! (2129)
Related
- Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says next year will be his last in office; mum on his plans afterward
- The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White Shares “Beautiful” Reaction to Liza Colón-Zayas’ Historic Emmys Win
- Krispy Kreme introduces fall-inspired doughnut collection: See the new flavors
- Tito Jackson, brother of Michael Jackson and Jackson 5 co-founder, dies at 70
- Threat closes Spokane City Hall and cancels council meeting in Washington state
- Tell Me Lies’ Grace Van Patten Shares Rare Insight Into Romance With Costar Jackson White
- Selling Sunset’s Chrishell Stause Undergoes Surgery After “Vintage” Breast Implants Rupture
- You'll Be Royally Flushed by the Awkward Way Kate Middleton Met Brother James Middleton's Wife
- Sting Says Sean Diddy Combs Allegations Don't Taint His Song
- Beaches in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia closed to swimmers after medical waste washes ashore
Ranking
- 13 escaped monkeys still on the loose in South Carolina after 30 were recaptured
- Cardi B Reunites With Offset in Behind-the-Scenes Look at Birth of Baby No. 3
- DEA shutting down two offices in China even as agency struggles to stem flow of fentanyl chemicals
- The Reformation x Kacey Musgraves Collab Perfectly Captures the Singer's Aesthetic & We're Obsessed
- Mississippi expects only a small growth in state budget
- 2 officers hospitalized, suspect dead after pursuit and shootout in Des Moines, Iowa, police say
- America’s Got Talent Alum Emily Gold Dead at 17
- Michaela Mabinty DePrince's Mom Elaine DePrince Died 24 Hours After the Ballerina
Recommendation
-
Groups seek a new hearing on a Mississippi mail-in ballot lawsuit
-
Outside agency to investigate police recruit’s death after boxing training
-
Bridgerton Season 4 Reveals First Look at Luke Thompson and Yerin Ha as Steamy Leads
-
Sunday Night Football: Highlights, score, stats from Texans' win vs. Bears
-
Taking stock of bonds: Does the 60/40 rule still have a role in retirement savings?
-
Sunday Night Football: Highlights, score, stats from Texans' win vs. Bears
-
NFL schedule today: What to know about Falcons at Eagles on Monday Night Football
-
Fantasy football buy low, sell high: 10 trade targets for Week 3