US judge orders minority agency opened to all races

A federal judge in Texas has ruled that a 55-year-old federal agency created to help minorityowned businesses must now open its doors to every race, siding with a group of white plaintiffs who argued that the agency discriminated against them.

In a 93-page opinion rendered Tuesday, US District Court Judge Mark T. Pittman ruled that the Minority Business Development Agency’s presumption that businesses owned by Blacks, Latinos, and other minorities are inherently disadvantaged violated the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection. He permanently enjoined the agency’s business centers, which have assisted minority-owned businesses in accessing capital and government contracts, from extending services based on an applicant’s race.

“If courts mean what they say when they ascribe supreme importance to constitutional rights, the federal government may not flagrantly violate such rights with impunity,” Pittman wrote. “The MBDA has done so for years. Time’s up.”

The ruling is the latest blow to government affirmative action programs after the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in June against Harvard and the University of North Carolina that upended race-conscious college admissions. The decision sparked a broad legal offensive against affirmative action and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the private sector and public sectors. In July, a Tennessee judge ruled that the Small Business Administration 8(a) Business Development program’s use of the racial presumption of disadvantage was unconstitutional, forcing the agency to overhaul its program.

“This is a historic victory for equality in America,” said Dan Lennington, an attorney with Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, the conservative public interest law firm representing the plaintiffs in the MBDA case. “No longer can a federal agency cater only to certain races. MBDA is now open to all.”

Lennington has previously noted that the case will likely be appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which leans conservative.

Justice Department lawyers representing the MBDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.