By Alexis Shoats
In his article with the New York Times, Edward Blum boasts about his focus on public policy surrounding race and ethnicity. As a staunch conservative, he’s brought some of the most landmark cases to the United States Supreme Court and won. He states in the interview,
“I think the vast majority of Americans, in poll after poll, Jews, gentiles, African Americans, Hispanics, don’t believe that a student’s race should be an element in college admissions.”
If you’re wondering, yes he is the white man behind affirmative action being struck down in the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard case. Might I add that this is the organization he started after his failed attempt to repeal affirmative action in 2012 with Fisher v. University of Texas. Blum is also notorious for seeking out individuals or jurisdictions for cases. In Shelby v. Holder, he trolled government websites and cold-called the county officials. So how did his career begin?
Without giving his career too much time and attention, it started when he attempted to run for Congress in Texas. He blamed his loss on the newly designed district maps and along with a few other voters they decided to sue the state. They argued that the new congressional districts were racially gerrymandered creating majority-minority districts. Despite there being a growth in minorities specifically African - Americans and Hispanics in two of the districts. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in Blum’s favor. Stating that this violated the Equal Protection Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment, and subsequently affected the Voting Rights Act. However, after pooling over the oral arguments, Opinions, and Dissents, I noticed this decision was flawed. In Associate Justice Stevens's dissent, he states,
“Even if strict scrutiny applies, I would find these districts constitutional, for each considers race only to the extent necessary to comply with the State’s responsibilities under the Voting Rights Act while achieving other race-neutral political and geographical requirements. The plurality’s finding to the contrary unnecessarily restricts the ability of States to conform their behavior to the Voting Rights Act while simultaneously complying with other race-neutral goals.”
This was the beginning of Blum’s crusade to gut voting rights, his next would be Shelby v. Holder which is now known as the landmark case that has given rise to voter suppression across the nation. He hasn’t stopped at voting rights though. As I mentioned earlier due to his attack on affirmative action, he is now challenging grants given based on race. On Monday, the Federal Appeals Court of the Eleventh Circuit blocked Fearless Fund, an Atlanta-based venture firm from giving grants based on race. This comes after Blum’s organization American Alliance for Rights appealed the original decision by U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash that ruled in favor of Fearless Fund.
Pictured: Fearless Fund Founders Arian Simone and Ayana Parsons (Image Source: Fearless Fund)
Blum has stated, “As the Supreme Court recently articulated in the Students for Fair Admissions cases, ‘Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.” Blum added, “Programs, contracts, employment opportunities and other areas of our nation’s public and private policies that are racially exclusive like the one offered by the Fearless Fund are unfair and illegal and will be vigorously challenged in federal and state courts throughout the country.”
So, due to the new court ruling an injunction has been put on the case, halting the Fund from distributing grants to black female business owners. This is considered a major stepback because black women founders receive less than 1% of venture funding, according to the Fearless Fund. Which doesn't classify as fair considering black women are the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs. The Fund Founders state that they are still open for business, and on their Firm’s social media page, they stated, “This isn’t the end, but the beginning of a renewed fight. We are committed more than ever to advocating for equity, pushing forward with resilience, and ensuring that women of color receive the opportunities they rightfully deserve.”
People like Edward Blum and this superior mindset keep the nation unequal. The question lies in what happens next. How will Black and Brown people be afforded opportunities? History repeats, and we must ask ourselves how do we build from here?
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