Venture capital firm Fearless Fund recently filed an appeal in response to the court case that’s aiming to prevent the group from funding Black women owned businesses.
The Black-women-led Atlanta grant program recently announced that they’re continuing to fight against the decision made against them with their newest motion.
Filed alongside civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump, who previously represented the family of the late George Floyd, the appeal argues the claim that Fearless Fund’s grant is lawful as it addresses systemic discrimination.
In late September, federal judges temporarily blocked the group from awarding $20,000 in grants to Black female entrepreneurs, claiming it was a “racially exclusive program.”
The American Alliance for Equal Rights, led by far-right, anti-affirmative action conservative Edward Blum, brought their case forward again days after U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash ruled that the program is protected under the Constitution’s First Amendment.
“Women of color-owned businesses are a vital, growing sector to our economy yet received less than one percent of venture capital funding,” said Fearless Fund founder Arian Simone in a statement per Revolt. “Our legal team filed a brief in support of our First Amendment right to voice our view that these women of color-owned businesses need to be supported and that we are aligned with them through the Fearless Foundation’s Strivers Grant Program.”
“We will fight fearlessly to protect these businesses, the dreams of their founders and our right to express this viewpoint, against any and all legal challenges,” she added.
The announcement of the Fearless Funds’ newest appeal coincides with venture capital fund Hello Alice’s movement to get the lawsuit filed against them dismissed.
In August, Hello Alice was accused of racial discrimination because they provided $25,000 in a grant to Black-owned businesses.
America First Legal, a conservative group, filed the lawsuit as a representative of white business owner Nathan Roberts and his business Freedom Truck Dispatch. Roberts claims that the grant violated Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
Created following the Civil War, the act was made to prevent racial discrimination in contracts. It was passed to protect the civil rights of Black Americans.
With their latest action, Hello Alice asked the federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that the grant is protected under the Constitution since it addresses racial discrimination when obtaining capital for businesses.
“The First Amendment … prohibits plaintiffs from using the courts to alter the sociopolitical message that a private party conveys through the terms on which it offers monetary donations,” said the company in their latest request per Reuters.
