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NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge in Texas has ordered a 55-year-old U.S. agency that caters to minority-owned businesses to serve people regardless of race, siding with white business owners who claimed the program discriminated against them. The agency, which helps minority-owned businesses obtain financing and government contracts, now operates in 33 states and Puerto Rico. Justice Department lawyers representing Minority Business Development Agency declined to comment on the ruling, which can be appealed to the conservative-leaning 5th U.S. John F. Robinson, president of the National Minority Business Council, said the ruling is “a blow against minority owned businesses," and does nothing to help majority-owned businesses because they already enjoy access to federal resources through the Small Business Administration. "It has the potential of damaging the whole minority business sector because there will be less service available to minority-owned businesses,” Robinson said.

Persons: Mark T, Pittman, Donald Trump, Nixon, Biden, ” Pittman, Dan Lennington, ” Lennington, John F, Robinson, ” Robinson, Arian Simone, Alphonso David, David, Stanley Goldfarb, ”, “, —, David Glasgow, Graham Lee Brewer, Haleluya Hadero Organizations: —, U.S, Northern, Northern District of, U.S . Commerce Department, Infrastructure Investment, Jobs, Black, Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, Justice Department, Business, Agency, Circuit, National Minority Business Council, Small Business Administration, Economic, Pfizer, The, Appeals, American Alliance for Equal Rights, Meltzer Center for Diversity, New York University’s School of Law, Supreme, AP Locations: Texas, Northern District, Northern District of Texas, Puerto Rico, New Orleans, Tennessee, Atlanta, The New York, Florida, New

Judge Kevin Newsom, a Trump appointee, pushed back against the Fearless Fund's argument that the grants are protected by the First Amendment because they are charitable donations. He asked the Fearless Fund's attorneys whether the same protection would apply to a contest open only to white applicants. “I think that's a pretty simple yes or no,” Newsom said, interrupting when the attorney for the Fearless Fund, Jason Schwartz, started to reply. They’re saying, no, we want all the pie,” Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney who is also representing the Fearless Fund Fund, said a news conference following the hearing. But since the lawsuit was filed, the Fearless Fund has had trouble securing new investment, said co-founder Arian Simone.

Persons: Donald Trump, Barack Obama —, Fearless, Kevin Newsom, Edward Blum, ” Newsom, Jason Schwartz, Schwartz, ” Schwartz, ” Ben Crump, ”, Morgan Chase, Arian Simone, “, ” Simone, Newsom, ______ Olson Organizations: MIAMI, American Alliance for Equal Rights, Trump, American Alliance, Black, Bank of America, Mastercard, “ Locations: U.S, Black, Miami, America, “, New York

☆ Black entrepreneurs, business leaders say conservative legal challenges could hinder progress
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Nicquel Terry Ellis Cnn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Trigg-Jones said she applied for funding from grant groups, venture capital funds and investors, but most of them denied her. Late last month, a federal appeals court granted the Alliance’s motion to temporarily block the Fearless Fund from awarding grants exclusively to Black women entrepreneurs. Black business leaders told CNN the lawsuits, if successful, could stand to undo decades of progress toward leveling the playing field for Black and brown people in the workplace and small business sector. According to a 2019 report from American Express, Black women are the fastest growing demographic of entrepreneurs in the country. Black business owners are turned down for loans at a rate three times higher than White business owners, according to a 2020 analysis of small businesses by Goldman Sachs.

Persons: Cathleen Trigg, Jones, –, you’re, ” Trigg, Edward Blum, Blum, Fearless, ” Blum, “, Goldman Sachs, Arian Simone, ”, AAER “, Rashae Barnes, Barnes, ” Barnes, Kaycea Campbell, ” Campbell, Lenwood Long, —, Long, CNN’s Jaide Timm, Garcia, Isabel Rosales, Tami Luhby Organizations: CNN, Trigg, American Alliance for Equal Rights, Civil, American Express, “, Evals Equity, Pierce College Los Angeles, Federal, Consumer Finances, African American Alliance of Community Development Financial, Black Locations: New York, PitchBook, White

Circuit Court of Appeals on a 2-1 vote granted a request by Edward Blum's American Alliance for Equal Rights to temporarily block Fearless Fund from considering applications for grants only from businesses led by Black women. Blum's group asked the court to do so while it appealed a judge's Tuesday ruling denying it a preliminary injunction blocking Fearless Fund from moving forward with its "racially exclusive program." Fearless Fund did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 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. 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.

Persons: Ben Crump, Arian Simone, Ayana Parsons, Mylan Denerstein, Alphonso David, Eduardo Munoz, Edward Blum's, Blum's, Grant, Robert Luck, Andrew Brasher, Thomas, Donald Trump, Blum, JPMorgan Chase, Strivers, Nate Raymond, Alexia Garamfalvi, Andrea Ricci Organizations: Fund, REUTERS, Supreme, Circuit, Edward Blum's American Alliance for Equal Rights, U.S, District, American Alliance for Equal Rights, Harvard University, University of North, JPMorgan, Bank of America, MasterCard, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, Atlanta, Texas, University of North Carolina, Black, Boston

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. 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. 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. 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.

Persons: Edward Blum, Thomas, Edward Blum's, Blum, Arian Simone, Ayana Parsons, Simone, Parsons, JPMorgan Chase, Strivers, Nate Raymond, Will Dunham, Alexia Garamfalvi Organizations: Fair, Harvard University, Supreme, U.S, District, Edward Blum's American Alliance for Equal Rights, Circuit, Appeals, University of North, JPMorgan, Bank of America, MasterCard, U.S ., Thomson Locations: Atlanta, Texas, University of North Carolina, Black, U.S . Civil, Boston

Those lawsuits accuse all three of violating Section 1981 of the 1866 Civil Rights Act, a law enacted after the Civil War that guarantees all people the same right to make and enforce contracts "as is enjoyed by white citizens." "All of our nation's civil rights laws - including the 1866 Civil Rights Act - enshrine the command that someone's race and ethnicity must never be used to help or harm them in public and private employment and contracting," Blum, who is white, told Reuters in an email. FREE SPEECH ARGUMENTFearless Fund has brought in prominent lawyers to defend it, including civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Alphonso David, who during a news conference called Blum's use of the Civil War-era law "cynical." They argue that the rules for the grants are merely criteria for being eligible for a "discretionary gift" and do not create a "contract" subject to the civil rights law. Blum's group countered that Fearless Fund's argument would ironically undermine the very causes it favors by essentially invalidating Section 1981 and deeming racial discrimination protected by the First Amendment.

Persons: Edward Blum, Morrison, Foerster, Edward Blum's, Thomas, Fearless Fund's, Bill Clinton, Blum, Sarah Hinger, Hinger, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Arian Simone, Ayana Parsons, Blum's, Strivers, Ben Crump, Alphonso David, Nate Raymond, Alexia Garamfalvi, Will Dunham Organizations: Fair, Harvard University, Supreme, Edward Blum's American Alliance for Equal Rights, University of North, U.S, District, Democratic, Reuters, American Civil, Racial, Thomson Locations: Boston , Massachusetts, U.S, University of North Carolina, Atlanta, Black, Blum's Texas, Colorado, Boston

But the Fearless Fund is a tiny player in the approximately $200 billion global venture capital market. Less than 1% of venture capital funding goes to businesses owned by Black and Hispanic women, according to the nonprofit advocacy group Digitalundivided. The lawsuit against the Fearless Fund was filed by Edward Blum, the conservative activist who filed the affirmative action cases before the Supreme Court. Fearless Fund has invested more than $2 million in Thirteen Lune, founded by Nyako Griego. The combined share of venture capital funding received by Black and Latina founders briefly surpassed 1% in 2021 before dipping back below that threshold in 2022, according to Digitalundivided.

Persons: ”, Arian Simone, it's, Simone, ” Simone, Fearless, Edward Blum, Blum, ” Blum, Ben Crump, Marc Rosen, Thirteen, Sephora, Kohl's, Rosen, They’re, ” Rosen, Nyako Griego, George Floyd, Morgan Chase, Associated Press Retail Writers Anne D'Innocenzio, Haleluya Hadero Organizations: Fearless Fund, Black, Associated Press, Civil, American Alliance, Equal, AP, Fund, Court, Latina, Bank of America, Mastercard, Associated Press Retail Writers Locations: Atlanta, Texas, Florida, U.S, Lune

☆ There's a brewing backlash against DEI in corporate America — and a venture capital fund getting sued for racial bias is now caught in the middle
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Vishal Persaud | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

VC firm Fearless Fund is being sued by the group behind the Supreme Court affirmative action case. The conservative group claims a grant program run by Fearless Fund is racially discriminatory. It also led some companies like Bank of America, Mastercard , PayPal and others to earmark millions of dollars to fund and address the racial funding gap. A small, Atlanta-based, Black women-led venture firm called Fearless Fund was one of them. "Their motive is clear: they want to disrupt the vital work of Fearless Fund and similar institutions and organizations whose primary mission is to provide underrepresented communities with an economic engine to build, sustain and scale their businesses," said Fearless Fund in a press release.

Persons: George Floyd, Edward Blum, Arian Simone, Ayana Parsons, George Floyd's, Eghosa Omoigui, Yasmin Cruz Ferrine, Ferrine, VCs Organizations: Fearless, Morning, Bank of America, Mastercard, PayPal, American Alliance for Equal Rights, Civil, Costco, MasterCard, Street Journal, Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros, Wall Street Journal, Pew Research Center, Microsoft, Walmart, TechCrunch Locations: Minneapolis, Atlanta, America

☆ A backlash is brewing against DEI in corporate America — and a venture-capital fund facing a racial-bias lawsuit is caught in the middle
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Vishal Persaud | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

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