The future of DEI programs could be in jeopardy after an Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals halted the Fearless Fund’s program. A three-judge panel, two judges appointed by Donald Trump and one by President Barack Obama, ruled 2-1 that Fearless Fund is not protected by the First Amendment in its efforts to provide grants for Black women in business.
The court ruled that the Fearless Fund violated the 1866 Civil Rights Act which prohibits the use of race in making contracts. The original law was issued to remedy discrimination against Black Americans post-slavery.
The judges sided with Edward Blum, president of AAER. Blum is on a racially-charged mission to destroy the progression of Blacks in America. Blum has filed three lawsuits since August challenging grant and fellowship programs designed to help Black, Hispanic and other underrepresented minority groups achieve greater career opportunities.
Blum is also the face of the initial lawsuit that led to the dismantling of Affirmative Action. For over a decade, Blum filed multiple lawsuits and was only successful after a Su
Judge Kevin Newsom, a judge appointed by Trump ruled against the Fearless Fund by writing, “The fact remains, though, that Fearless simply—and flatly— refuses to entertain applications from business owners who aren’t ‘black females.’ If that refusal were deemed sufficiently ‘expressive’ to warrant protection under the Free Speech Clause, then so would be every act of race discrimination, no matter at whom it was directed.”
However, Judge Robin Rosenbaum, the Obama appointed judge, ruled in a favor of the Fearless Fund continuing and claimed that no one is injured by grants being provided for Black women in business.
“But as American Alliance has portrayed its members’ alleged injuries, it has shown nothing more than flopping on the field,” Rosenbaum wrote.
Blum and his organization should not be considered a lone-wolf. He’s a right-wing conservative who is received millions in contributions from other conservative donors.
Blum has received funding from the Searle Freedom Trust, the Scaife Foundation and Bradley Foundation, alongside at least $3 million from Donors Trust, according to Slate.
But while Blum seeks to destroy any assistance that Black people may receive via education and business, he fails to note how disparities continues to exist in every sector of American society.
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A.R. Shaw, Executive Editor
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