DEI Foes Using 1866 Law To Dump Equity Policies In Workplace

Opponents of workplace diversity programs are increasingly relying on a section of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 to challenge equity policies and funding for minority-owned businesses, as reported by the Associated Press (AP).

The American Alliance for Equal Rights—a group led by Edward Blum (right), the conservative activist who challenged affirmative action in higher education and won—is citing the section to challenge a venture capital fund called the Fearless Fund. I Photo: Vijay Ingam X

Section 1981 of the act was originally intended to protect formerly enslaved people, specifically Black individuals, from economic exclusion.

However, the American Alliance for Equal Rights—a group led by Edward Blum, the conservative activist who challenged affirmative action in higher education and won—is citing the section to challenge a venture capital fund called the Fearless Fund.

This fund invests in businesses owned by women of color, and a federal appeals court has temporarily blocked funding for Fearless Fund's grant program as the case proceeds.

Conservative activists have filed lawsuits using the 1981 section against other companies and institutions, including the insurance company Progressive and the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.

These cases are being closely monitored as the battle over racial considerations shifts to the workplace following the US Supreme Court's June ruling ending affirmative action in college admissions.

While the 1981 statute had been used before the latest affirmative action ruling to demonstrate reverse discrimination, Alphonso David, Fearless Fund's legal counsel and president & CEO of The Global Black Economic Forum, noted that there is now a "coordinated use of Section 1981 that we did not see before."

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