This July 21, 2012, file photo, shows the exterior of the U.S. Courthouse for the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)
By Alexandra Olson
A grant program for businesses run by Black women was temporarily blocked by a federal appeals court in a case epitomizing the escalating battle over corporate diversity policies.
The 2-1 decision by the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily prevents the Fearless Fund from running the Strivers Grant Contest, which awards $20,000 to businesses that are at least 51% owned by Black women, among other requirements.
In a statement Sunday, the Atlanta-based Fearless Fund said it would comply with the order but remained confident of ultimately prevailing in the lawsuit. The case was brought by the American Alliance for Equal Rights, a group run by conservative activist Edward Blum, who argues that the fund violates a section of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which prohibits racial discrimination in contracts. “We strongly disagree with the decision and remain resolute in our mission and commitment to address the unacceptable disparities that exist for Black women and other women of color in the venture capital space,” the Fearless Fund said.
The order, issued Saturday, reversed a ruling Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash which denied the American Alliance's request to halt the program. The majority on the three-judge panel wrote that the Fearless Fund's program's is “racially exclusionary” and that Blum's group is likely to prevail.
“The members of the American Alliance for Equal Rights are gratified that the 11th Circuit has recognized the likelihood that the Fearless Strivers Grant Contest is illegal,” Blum said in a statement. “We look forward to the final resolution of this lawsuit.”
In his dissent, Judge Charles R. Wilson said it was a “perversion of Congressional intent” to use the 1866 act against the Fearless Fund's program, given that the Reconstruction-era law was intended to protect Black people from economic exclusion. Wilson said the lawsuit was unlikely to succeed.
The case has become a test case as the battle over racial considerations shifts to the workplace following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling ending affirmative action in college admissions.
The grant contest is among several programs run by the Fearless Fund, which was established to bridge the gap in funding access for Black female entrepreneurs, who receive less than 1% of venture capital funding. To be eligible for the grants, a business must be at least 51% owned by a Black woman, among other qualifications.
The Fearless Fund has enlisted prominent civil rights lawyers, including Ben Crump, to defend against the lawsuit. The attorneys have argued that the grants are not contracts, but donations protected by the First Amendment.
In its majority opinion, the appellate panel disagreed, writing that the First Amendment “does not give the defendants the right to exclude persons from a contractual regime based on their race.”
The Cowboy State has become one of the world's top tax havens, according to the Pandora Papers, a trove of more than 11.9 million documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and The Washington Post. The papers reveal, among other things, how ultra-wealthy people from around the world move money into the U.S., invest, and spend it under a shroud of secrecy. Allison Tait, University of Richmond law professor, joined Cheddar to talk about Wyoming's laidback tax laws, their impact on the nation's economy, and provided some details on the financial arrangement known as the "cowboy cocktail."
Carlo and Baker preview President Biden's address to the nation as Omicron becomes the new dominant Covid strain. Plus, Trump gets booed for getting his booster and the White House gets a new puppy.
China and Russia are saying they want to work closer together in different areas after a recent call between Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. What are the implications of a close partnership between Beijing and Moscow? Cheddar News breaks things down with expert Hagar Chemali.
Michele Schneider, Partner and Director of Trading Research & Education for MarketGauge.com, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she says the spread of the Omicron variant and Jerome Powell's comments following the latest Fed decision are spooking investors heading into the weekend.
Carlo and Baker wrap up another week discussing the latest explosion in new Covid cases in the Northeast, President Biden's stalled agenda and more. Plus, Love, Hate, Ate featuring the question: why did movie dialogue get so hard to understand?
Since July 2021, families with children have received monthly payments from the federal government as part of the expanded child tax credit, a policy that may be expiring this month. Megan Curran, policy director at the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University, joined Cheddar News to discuss.
During the pandemic, student loan debt repayment was put on pause amid an unprecedented crisis. However, on February 1, 2022, the schedule is set to resume, and currently it looks as though the Biden administration has no plans to extend it. Cody Hounanian, the executive director of the Student Debt Crisis Center, spoke to Cheddar about why he believes the loan collection pause needs to at least be extended as borrowers are still struggling with the resurgent pandemic and inflation. "There's really no good economic or policy or political reason as far as why they're focused on getting payments started now," Hounanian said. "We surveyed 33,000 people with student loans last month. Nine out of 10 told us that they are not ready to resume payments."
As the 2022 midterm elections fast approach, here are some politicians Americans should be on the lookout for. Democratic Massachusetts state senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, who was the first Latina and Asian American woman to be elected to the state's senate, now has her eye on the governorship with Republican Charlie Baker leaving. New Jersey GOP candidate for Congress, Billy Prempeh also bears watching, and while Boston's newest mayor, Democrat Michelle Wu, was already sworn in last month, all eyes will be on Beantown as the first woman and first person of color to hold the office tries to usher in a new era for the city.
