| When the Supreme Court effectively ended affirmative action in college admissions last year, the decision was a long time coming. The cases that landed before the court, against Harvard University and University of North Carolina, were the culmination of more than a decade of legal work by the anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum and his group, Students for Fair Admissions.
Blum now has a new organization: The American Alliance for Equal Rights. Over the past nine months or so, AAER has filed at least 10 lawsuits against various companies and organizations for running internships, offering grants, or holding contests open only to racial minorities — effectively, according to AAER, discriminating against White people. In fact, two new suits have been filed within the past couple weeks: one against the governor of Minnesota and the other against Southwest Airlines. In other words, AAER is picking up where Students for Fair Admissions left off: extending the legal rationale behind SCOTUS' Harvard and UNC decision to private employers. The gist of AAER's legal argument is that a program that excludes White people is just as discriminatory as past exclusions of Black people were, and should therefore be illegal. "This kind of rank discrimination was never lawful," AAER argues in a paragraph that appears in many of its complaints. "Harvard reaffirms that "[e]liminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it." To understand how this "elimination" might play out in the real world, it helps to review AAER's lawsuits. So let's do that. Grant Programs AAER's first case, filed in August against the Atlanta-based venture capital firm Fearless Fund, is also the one that's gotten the most attention so far. Fearless Fund is founded by two Black women. Less than 1% of venture capital funds go to women of color; Fearless Fund has an explicitly stated goal of trying to boost that figure. To that end, the Fearless Fund runs a contest for Black female entrepreneurs; the prize is a $20,000 grant. AAER is bringing the suit on behalf of three anonymous small business owners who say they're ready and willing to apply for the Fearless Fund grant but can't because they're not Black women.
Fearless Fund is actively fighting the case in court. Its defense is based largely on the fact that the grant is awarded through its 501c(3) foundation and is therefore a charitable donation, which is protected by free speech.
A few months after filing the Fearless Fund lawsuit, AAER turned its sights on two other grant programs, both run out of Texas. In one case, a nonprofit that had offered a $2,750 grant to female and minority business owners changed its eligibility requirements, prompting AAER to drop the lawsuit. But the other is still ongoing.
That one concerns a Texas-based business accelerator called Founders First Community Development Corporation. Founders First offers a variety of services, including a $50,000 grant available to Texas business owners who are "Latinx, Black, Asian, women, LGBTQIA+, military veterans, or [someone] located in a low to moderate income area." AAER says it has an anonymous Texas businessman who would like to apply for the grant but can't because he doesn't qualify. The suit was filed last month.
Last week, Founders First filed its initial response, noting that since 2021 at least 25 "White, straight, nonveteran men who do not live in low- or middle-income areas" have applied for the grant and at least one has won it. The eligibility requirements on the grant's website have recently changed to explain to applicants that "you may not fall into groups but have an interest in applying for this grant," although according to the Internet Archive that line does not appear to have been on the website prior to AAER's lawsuit. Mentorship and Internship Programs AAER has also targeted three law firms, Perkins & Coie, Morrison & Foerster, and Winston & Strawn, all of which ran fellowship programs designed to provide mentorship and career guidance for underrepresented groups such as racial minorities, women, people with disabilities, or those who identify as LGBTQ+. The fellowships were designed to help diversify the firms, which still skew disproportionately White and male, especially at the partner level. (According to the National Association of Law Placement, today only 11% of law firm partners are people of color—up from 2% in 1991). All three suits were dropped after the law firms opened their fellowship to everyone.  Edward Blum, president of Students for Fair Admissions and American Alliance for Equal Rights. Photographer: Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg In February AAER also filed a complaint against the director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Latino, which doesn't actually exist yet. (The museum is currently limited to one gallery exhibit a one of the Smithsonian's other museums) At issue is a 12-week Latino museum studies internship program, which "seeks to catalyze change in a field where only 5% of key museum positions are filled by people who identify as Latina, Latino, or Latinx." The internship application asked people to discuss their Latino heritage. Once the museum agreed to change the wording of its application to make it clear that non-Latinos could apply, AAER dropped the lawsuit.
Companies Last week, AAER sued Southwest Airlines for a contest it runs in partnership with the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. The ¡Lánzate! Travel Award Program is open to Hispanic college and graduate students who're going to school at least 200 miles from their home. Winners receive four free roundtrip airline tickets home to visit their families. AAER says it has two members who'd like to enter the contest but can't because they're not Hispanic. Southwest is currently reviewing the complaint, according to a spokesperson for the airline. States In February AAER sued the governor of Alabama over a state law requiring at least two out of the nine people appointed to the state's Real Estate Appraisers Board — the entity that regulates and licenses real estate appraisers — to be members of a "minority race." AAER filed the lawsuit on behalf of two anonymous people who claimed that they applied to be on the real estate appraisers board but were denied. Governor Kay Ivey responded by saying that Alabama does not enforce the racial requirement so the lawsuit had no standing. (According to the the board's website, seven of the eight current board members are White.) Interestingly, this is one of the only cases in which the identity of one of AAER's members was revealed. Laura Clark, a White woman who lives in Alabama, applied to the board and was rejected. In court filings, Clark acknowledged that she does not work in the business of real estate appraisal. Everyone currently on the Alabama Real Estate Appraisers Board has relevant work in the field. This month, AAER filed a new lawsuit that mirrors its Alabama one. This time, the target is Minnesota's Board of Social Work, which regulates social workers in the state. According to Minnesota law, at least five of the 15 members of the board must be from an "underrepresented community" or a "community of color." AAER says it has female members who would like to be appointed to the board but are "disfavored" cause they aren't racial minorities. AAER just filed the lawsuit this month; Minnesota has not yet responded. With these lawsuits, AAER is essentially trying to get the courts to dictate how American institutions can address discrimination and diversify their workforces. Is the answer legally enforced colorblindness? Or can racial inequity be fought proactively? Eventually one of AAER's cases may make its way before the Supreme Court and reshape the way the country deals with the issue of race. Again. | 
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