{"id":4608,"date":"2023-08-01T13:24:14","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T13:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=4608"},"modified":"2023-08-01T14:20:38","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T14:20:38","slug":"city-of-madison-defies-u-s-supreme-court-ruling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=4608","title":{"rendered":"City of Madison Defies U.S. Supreme Court Ruling"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/will-law.org\/city-of-madison-defies-u-s-supreme-court-ruling\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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WILL Challenges New Racially Discriminatory Business Program<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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The News:<\/strong> Today, in support of true \u201cEquality Under the Law\u201d for all Americans, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) called upon the City of Madison to reform its BizReady Program, which is a new initiative aimed at supporting only BIPOC entrepreneurs. BIPOC is a racially exclusive term, referring to \u201cBlack, Indigenous, People of Color\u201d populations.<\/div>\n
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If Madison runs its program as expected, in addition to excluding all white entrepreneurs, many other populations\u2014from the Middle East, North Africa, North Asia, and Latin America\u2014will also be excluded based purely on race.<\/div>\n
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Race discrimination is prohibited by federal law, as recently explained in detail by the Supreme Court in\u00a0Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard.\u00a0WILL plans legal action if the program is not opened to all racial groups.<\/div>\n
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The Quote:\u00a0<\/strong>Dan Lennington, WILL Deputy Counsel, stated, \u201cThe City of Madison says it wants new entrepreneurs, but only if they are the right color. This type of bigoted policy has no place in America. It\u2019s time for Madison to reject discrimination and open the program to all entrepreneurs, regardless of race.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Additional Background:\u00a0<\/strong>In July, the City of Madison created the BizReady Program, which is a \u201ctraining, technical assistance, and micro-enterprise funding initiative.\u201d The program will award \u201cMicro-grants,\u201d in the amount of $3,000, and will also be available to \u201cat least\u201d 25 entrepreneurs.<\/div>\n
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The program\u2019s most notable feature is that it discriminates based on race. Madison says the program\u2019s goal is \u201csupporting BIPOC populations,\u201d encouraging \u201cBIPOC business ownership,\u201d and \u201csupport[ing] the development of BIPOC entrepreneurs across the city.\u201d In short, the City\u2019s new program is only available to certain races.<\/div>\n
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The program will likely be run by a non-profit entity. WILL notes that this entity will also be liable under federal law for discrimination. Madison\u2019s contract documents indicate that any person awarded the BizReady administrator contract will indemnify and hold harmless the city for all damages.<\/div>\n
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Equality Under the Law:<\/strong>\u00a0Since 2021, WILL\u2019s Equality Under the Law Project has represented dozens of individuals and businesses from around the country to enforce the basic guarantees of equal treatment. More information can be found at\u00a0DefendEquality.org<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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Read More Here:<\/strong><\/div>\n