Photo Courtesy of Twitter (@DeanHousey)
On Wednesday, a conservative cretin and his organization sued an Atlanta-based venture capital firm that supports and invests in businesses owned and operated by women of color because he found the program racially discriminating.
The American Alliance for Equal Rights, founded by conservative activist Edward Blum, who voted “nay” in the Supreme Court’s June affirmative action in higher education lawsuit, sued Fearless Fund, accusing the company of “operating a racially-discriminatory program.”
Blum and the American Alliance for Equal Rights claimed that applicants’ eligibility depended on race. The plaintiffs highlighted the first requirement (which seems like the only thing they based their argument on), claiming it read “the program ‘is open only to black females.'”
The lawsuit refers to the Fearless Strivers Grant Contest, which states in the first criteria that “The Fearless Strivers Grant Contest (‘Contest’) is open to only Black females…” However, that doesn’t necessarily support Blum’s and the AAER’s argument, considering that Fearless Funds also have a Women of Color Grant Program, “only open to women [of] color.”
Additionally, looking at the foundation’s portfolio page, they support women of color and different races, unlike other organizations.
According to Reuters, Blum and AAER claimed that about 60 white and Asian group members have reportedly been excluded from the program because of their race. But Fearless Funds’ portfolio showed it invested in Pamper Nail Gallery, owned by Vivian Xue Rahey, who’s Asian, specifically a first-generation Chinese immigrant who’s a successful software engineer and nail artist known for her reusable press-on nails.
Fearless Funds also invested in Partake Foods, founded by Denise Woodard, who’s also Asian and is making a difference in the world with her healthy and allergy-friendly foods.
Blums asserted that the lawsuit against Fearless Funds was his first of many steps toward challenging race-based policies used by private corporations, knowing darn well that anything non-white or straight in this country is subject to discrimination and has been for years.
Let’s not forget about the June 2023 ruling that opened doors for corporations to refuse to work with those who identify with the LGBTQIA+ community, precisely when the Christian graphic artist declined to work with same-sex couples.
What about the Black woman who was denied a potential job opportunity because the company didn’t “consider candidates that have suggestive ‘ghetto’ names” in 2018?
Fearless Funds only accepting women of color is not discriminatory. It’s inclusivity.