Americans who saw through all this were just waiting for the lawsuits to begin. Discrimination by any other name is still discrimination. Good time to be an attorney! ALL business owners need help, not just minority owned. Don’t separate out minorities. How many income generating small businesses will be left if white owned businesses move out? What if people just pack up and leave?
One of many discrimination lawsuits
Portland, OR set up the “Oregon Cares Fund” targeted to black individuals and businesses. Why just blacks? There are other minorities in your state, Oregon.
In July the Oregon Legislature Emergency Board allocated $200 million to assist those affected by COVID. Of that, $62 million went into the Oregon Cares Fund.
Reparation lawsuits can happen too
Don’t target money to a particular group. ALL people need it. Reparations might look good politically but you alienate other races. The Cares Fund was created last summer to go toward repairing slavery damage from many years ago and well as those facing COVID problems. It also assumes black Americans can’t access other coronavisur relief programs.
Attorneys at the firm Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt submitted a statement to the legislature: “Without targeted legislation, COVID-19 will exacerbate past disparate impacts of discrimination, which gives rise to both the imperative and legal justification for the state to take race-conscious action for black people, black-owned businesses, and black community-based organizations.” This assumes black people are stupid, that they aren’t capable of getting help unless the government helps them.
Lawsuits try to show how things get twisted
Maria Garcia owns the Revolucion Coffee House in Portland. She might have been one of several lawsuits denied because her business “did not meet the criteria because 0% of its owners identify as black.” The lawsuit alleges being denied violates her rights under the 14th Amendment Equal Protection clause.
Looking a little closer at the 14th Amendment, ALL citizens are equal, one group isn’t superior to the others. That means nobody should be given preferential treatment, including blacks.
Oregon legislative attorneys addressed this back in July when the Cares Fund was created. It’s unconstitutional and will bring about lawsuits unless the state can bring up detailed evidence of past discrimination. “We are not aware of evidentiary findings by the legislature or the Emergency Board in support of the grant program at issue here. Without any such findings, the program would almost certainly be unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment.”
If there’s no basis for doing something, it’s likely political. Because even with evidence, it’s tough to prove. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Vanderbilt University law professor, wrote, “Even with past harms, legislation that directs money to recipients on the basis of race would be very hard to defend in court.”
Ofer Raban, a University of Oregon law professor, offered roughly the same. “The Supreme Court has made it clear that such explicit racial classifications are subjected to the most exacting form of constitutional scrutiny, even when their aim is benevolent rather than invidious.” Ofer continued,
Maria Garcia was left out in the cold by her own people. She had to close her cafe and lay off employees. The non profit Latino Network doesn’t acknowledge her. It called Garcia’s actions “anti-black” and her views “do not represent the sentiment of Latinos.”
