In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling striking down affirmative action in college admissions, a San Antonio-based government program that allegedly uses race-based preferences to hand out federal grants faces a federal discrimination lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed this week by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), could spark a national re-examination of such taxpayer-funded, race-focused initiatives.
WILL is representing Greg Gomm, president and founder of DigitalDesk, Inc., a software company based in San Antonio that creates and sells educational software. The company’s products are used by higher educational institutions around the country.
Gomm also is a white male, who claims he was discriminated against when applying for a Texas government grant program, funded through federal COVID relief appropriations.
The lawsuit claims the Bexar County, Texas, Small Business Assistance Program “picks winners and losers based on the color of their skin.”
LiftFund Inc. is a non-profit Community Development Financial Institution and Community Development Corporation that administers the Bexar County Small Business Assistance Program. LiftFund used a “race-based and sex-based” scoring methodology in awarding the grants, according to the lawsuit. The preferential system awarded more points to applicants from minority-, women-, and veteran-owned businesses.
Gomm, according to the complaint, met all the other eligibility qualifications for the $50,000 small business grant, funded through the federal American Rescue Plan Act.
In May, WILL attorneys wrote a letter to the government and non-profit entities explaining that the “scoring methodology” was “unconstitutional or otherwise illegal under federal law.” They noted a similar race-based methodology— also used to distribute funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021—was struck down by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The defendants did not respond.
On June 21, Gomm learned that his application had been denied. The email he received confirms the “scoring methodology” was used in determining the awards.
By employing a racial preference, Bexar County and its agent violated Gomm’s rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the lawsuit alleges.
The racial preferences have arguably become more legally problematic in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling finding colleges and universities may no longer use race as a factor in admissions. Affirmative Action was declared unconstitutional in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.
WILL asserts the decision has much broader implications, confirming that federal civil rights laws demand “colorblind” treatment of all individuals in America.
As the law firm notes, the court explained that federal law demands “absolute equality of all citizens.” Exceptions to this rule are exceedingly rare, reserved for situations like preserving order in a prison, or to remedy the government’s own past intentional discrimination. Race discrimination may never be used as a tool to cure “societal discrimination,” “systemic racism,” or to advance modern-day notions of “diversity” or “equity.” In the court’s words, “eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.”
“Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court emphatically declared that race discrimination violates federal law, and that claims of ‘diversity’ can never justify discrimination,” Daniel Lennington, deputy counsel for the WILL, said in a statement. “WILL promises to fight discrimination wherever it rears its head. Our message is simple: if you discriminate against anyone based on race, you will go to court, and we will see to it that you lose.”
Bexar County officials said they don’t comment on pending litigation.
Gomm said the lawsuit is about the basic principles of equality and justice, and that governments “must not be allowed to tip he scales using equity measurements of race, sex and gender.”
“I hope that this lawsuit brings to light this illegal practice that is occurring in our nation, and hope that more Americans will join the fight,” the small business owner said.
M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Greg Gomm” by Greg Gomm.