The decision won’t be the end of the matter, but it’s a good sign.
U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman has ruled that a federal agency established to give subsidies to businesses, in its current form called the Minority Business Development Agency, may no longer use race or ethnicity as a criterion for distributing benefits.
The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty on behalf of three business owners who weren’t allowed to apply for help from the MBDA because they’re white. The plaintiffs argue that the Agency violates the constitutional requirement of equal treatment under
According to Judge Pittman, although “the Agency may intend to serve listed groups, not punish unlisted groups, the very design of its presumption punishes those who are not presumptively entitled to MBDA benefits.”
Supporting rights-based governance, I’m no fan of any welfare programs. As long as we have them, though, why should the handouts or the ability to apply for them be determined by race?
Government-imposed racial discrimination is unjust on its face. It should be extirpated wherever it exists. The Minority Business Development Agency is one of
If Pittman’s ruling is allowed to stand, it may have a salutary effect on many other agencies and programs.
The MBDA’s name presents a problem, however.
I guess it won’t be too hard to remove the word “Minority” and call the agency the Business Development Agency.
Or just shut it down.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
Illustration created with PicFinder and Firefly
—
See all recent commentary
(simplified and organized)
4 replies on “Race-Based Handouts?”
Unless the US Supreme Court is pushed well to the left, we can expect the courts to continue to strike-down measures of adjustive privilege.
But the courts are likely to leave programmes otherwise intact. In your just previous principal entry, you noted how the otherwise undesirable CHIPS programme was being strangled by DEI requirements. Alas, if the courts strike-out those requirements, then the programme will be able to breathe, and the semiconductor industry will become still more fascistic.
Shut it down. The federal government is already in deep debt. It should be looking for ways to reduce expenses for all so our children will still have a country when they grow up.
Even if the word ‘Minority’ is removed from the agency name, it won’t mean much if the agency devotes its resources to ‘underserved’ groups or communities. The proof is in the pudding.
I agree that hopefully this is the beginning of the end of the blatantly unconstitutional disparate treatment of citizens due to their immutable characteristics. This judge most certainly got it right, may his ruling be sustained and its principle promulgated.