(ProsperNews.net) – A conservative group in Ohio has filed a lawsuit against an insurance company that only awards financial aid to black business owners. America First Legal (AFL), led by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, filed the suit on behalf of businessman Nathan Roberts who argues that Progressive Insurance is breaching his Constitutional rights by offering a $25,000 grant exclusively to black business owners.
The lawsuit describes how Mr. Roberts, who is a customer with Progressive Insurance, received an email from the company in May arguing that black business people find it harder to secure capital than their white counterparts, and as such, a new opportunity for commercial-trucking small-business owners had arisen, but only black people could apply.
AFL attorney Gene Hamilton said more is at stake than this specific case, and he is keen to have the grant program ruled unlawful as a message to other companies operating race-based practices. “Our client was denied a contract with Progressive that would have provided him with $25,000 toward the purchase of a new truck solely because of the amount of pigment in his skin,” Hamilton said. He added that Roberts is a hard-working businessman trying to improve his lot, but racist policies impede him, meaning they are contrary to American values and “offensive to the American ideal.”
A win for the AFL could be highly significant and challenge federal policy from the Biden administration, which is pushing back on opposition to race-based programs. For example, President Biden said he “strongly disagreed” with the Supreme Court ruling that banned colleges from considering race as part of their admissions processes.
A row subsequently broke out between Biden’s small business administrator, Isabel Guzman, and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach over the reach of the Supreme Court ruling. Kobach said the court’s decision puts companies “on notice of the illegality of racial quotas and race-based preferences in employment and contracting practices.” Guzman said the ruling applies only to higher education institutions.
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