Unmasking the Duplicity of Anti-Affirmative Action Funders
As an organization, BiT-LA exists because too often Black tech workers find themselves as the only Black person in the room or on their team. Yet this “conspicuous imbalance” of race lies at the heart of the troubling trend of disappearing DEI initiatives across America following this summer’s Supreme Court’s decision that race-based affirmative action (in college admissions) is unlawful.
Attacks are continuing and losses are mounting across every industry. In the tech sector, similar lawsuits were already pending against Microsoft and Google. A couple weeks ago, the behemoth law firms of Morrison & Foerster and Perkins Coie canceled their programs. A month earlier (8/4/23), the America First Legal Foundation (led by Steven Miller, former President Trump’s advisor) sued the Small Business Administration, challenging the constitutionality of its 8(a) program on similar grounds. Thereafter, the Center for Equal Opportunity, a conservative think tank, sued Hello Alice, a Black and women-focused venture fund on similar grounds.
And that was just the tip of the iceberg: in total, over 200 law schools, 53 top law firms, CEOs of Fortune 100 companies and 21 of America’s favorite brands (Starbucks, McDonalds, Major League Baseball, etc) are now either targets or have canceled their DEI programs. These ongoing lawsuits raise important questions about how organizations like BiT-LA should respond.
According to Sun Szu’s Art of War, the most essential factor in determining victory is to know yourself and your opponent. Neither size, nor how well-equipped an opponent was, were mentioned as deciding factors for victory. Instead, know how to identify and attack the vulnerability of your opponent. The Asian strategy that comes to mind is to “Remove the Firewood from Under the Cooking Pot.” As it goes, when facing a pot of boiling water, the force of the boiling water can be fierce and unmanageable. So instead of dealing with the hot water directly, one should step back and discover the real source of the water’s force; the firewood. By removing the firewood from under the cooking pot, the water’s fury will calm. In other words, what may appear to be the source of one’s strength can often also be the source of one’s weakness.
Likewise, in the struggle to combat the well-financed anti-affirmative action movement, the money beneath it is the firewood under the boiling pot of racism. That is the vulnerability - the complicated web of “charitable giving” - where funders simultaneously support both DEI initiatives and anti-DEI initiatives. This practice, characterized as ‘duplicity in philanthropy’ IS the vulnerability to target. It is the source of their weakness and will lead to their defeat. But I’m left wondering whether the Blacks in leadership of those philanthropies are part of the anti movement, or just asleep at the wheel.
Tackling duplicity in philanthropy requires a multi-pronged approach. You can: (1) demand transparency in philanthropic giving and highlight instances of hypocrisy; (2) use public shaming to make sure their stakeholders, employees, and the public are aware of the contradiction between their public image and their financial contributions; (3) form alliances with like-minded organizations, and reach out to donors who may not be fully aware of how their contributions are being used; (4) use corporate social pressure campaigns to align their actions with their stated values; (5) advocate for stronger laws that require transparency in charitable giving; (6), use boycotts and divestment; and (7) collaborate with investigative journalists to uncover and report on instances of duplicity.
Ultimately, it is time for the leaders and members of BiT-LA and other progressive organizations that were created to address historic imbalances of Black access to jobs, schools, and funding to answer the call. Fighting against duplicity in philanthropy is essential for upholding the integrity of DEI initiatives and holding entities accountable for their actions. It's a collective effort that requires your commitment to fight for public awareness, advocacy, transparency and fairness.
John W Davis II, JD
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