A venture capital group called Fearless Fund announced this week that it was settling a lawsuit brought by Edward Blum, one of the founders of the group that brought the lawsuit that eventually ended Affirmative Action. Fearless Fund had been offering a grant which was only available to black women. That grant has now been permanently shut down as part of the settlement.
The Fearless Fund will shutter its grant program for Black women to end a lawsuit with affirmative action opponents, marking a major retreat by diversity advocates grappling with a legal environment in which race-specific programs are proving nearly indefensible in certain jurisdictions.
Both parties said the Atlanta-based venture capital firm, which invests in early-stage companies owned by women of color, agreed to close the Fearless Strivers grant contest reserved for Black female-owned businesses. In June, a…
