A federal appeals court suspended operations of the Fearless Fund after a lawsuit accused the program of practicing discrimination. The ruling is the latest in a long line of legal setbacks for programs promoting diversity and equity, which have increasingly come under attack by conservative forces.
$20,000 Strivers Grant halted
The Fearless Fund, an Atlanta-based venture capital fund that provides grants to Black women business owners, faces a lawsuit arguing the program discriminates based on race. While the final results of that case are still pending, a federal appeals court ruled the plaintiffs will likely win their lawsuit against the fund. In a 2-1 ruling, a panel of three judges on the 11th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, based in Miami, ordered the Fearless Fund to suspend its Strivers Grant Program until the case is concluded. The Strivers Grant is a $20,000 award given to businesses where Black women own a majority share. The grant program was initially allowed to continue while the case proceeded but was paused by federal injunction in October and will remain suspended due to the appeals court’s ruling.
‘A setback for women of color’
Arian Simone, Fearless Fund’s co-founder and CEO, quickly condemned the appeals court’s ruling.
“The message these judges sent today is that diversity in Corporate America, education, or anywhere else should not exist,” Simone said, adding that “these judges bought what a small group of white men were selling.”
Fearless Fund co-founder Ayana Parsons posted a message, calling the appeals court decision “a setback for women of color and all marginalized communities.”
View this post on Instagram
A campaign against diversity programs
The lawsuit at the center of this case was brought on behalf of three anonymous non-Black women business owners. However, the group that is suing, the American Alliance for Equal Rights, is a conservative organization founded by Edward Blum, a notorious opponent of affirmative action and other programs aimed at alleviating racial disparities. Blum, who has argued that all such diversity programs are discriminatory, was behind the case that led to the Supreme Court striking down affirmative action in college admissions in 2023. Since then, Blum and other right-wing operatives have gone after various minority-focused and diversity, equity and inclusion programs and initiatives across the country.
As the legal challenges to pro-diversity programs continue to mount, the Fearless Fund case will be an important test of the limits of these challenges. As the next stages of this case unfold, its outcome may go a long way in determining whether other programs aimed at promoting Black women and other marginalized groups can continue.
