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Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha.

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Speaker 2: I'm hoping to stuff I never told you protection Buyheart Radio,

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Speaker 2: And today we are bringing back a classic with our

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Speaker 2: friend bridget Todd about affirmative action, and just with all

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Speaker 2: of the things that are happening with DEI and the

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Speaker 2: tax on it, the rollbacks on it, the abandonment of it,

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Speaker 2: I just think that this conversation we had about the

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Speaker 2: very legal organized effort to roll back affirmative action is

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Speaker 2: relevant and we're seeing it play out.

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Speaker 3: Even now.

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Speaker 1: The fact that the lawsuit that came down in order

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Speaker 1: to contest it has made it worse and harder for

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Speaker 1: Asian Americans to get into these same universities is quite

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Speaker 1: the ironic, comical, painful. I don't know one of those words.

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Speaker 3: Maybe a mixture of all three. Maybe a mixture of

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Speaker 3: all three.

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Speaker 2: Yes, well, please enjoy this classic episode.

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Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha.

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Speaker 2: I'm what good to Steffan never told you a production

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Speaker 2: of iHeartRadio, and today we are so happy to once

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Speaker 2: again it be joined by the marvelous, the fantastic, the

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Speaker 2: wonderful bridget Todd award winning.

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Speaker 4: Award winning and book buying because I just bought your

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Speaker 4: new books stuff I've never told you.

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Speaker 5: Because I'm so excited.

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Speaker 4: We were talking off Mike about how excited I am

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Speaker 4: so add award winning Comma stuff I'm never told you

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Speaker 4: book purchasing to that name of who I Am, Who

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Speaker 4: I Am?

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Speaker 1: Thank you?

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Speaker 2: Yes, it really really reads a lot. Yeah, and we

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Speaker 2: are so excited to have you on. I just I

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Speaker 2: feel like we haven't seen you in forever, even though I.

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Speaker 3: Know it's not true.

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Speaker 1: Time flies.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's great. It's very very great to have

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Speaker 2: you as always. How have you been, bridget what's been

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Speaker 2: going on? I know you do have some awards or

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Speaker 2: potential case trophy case.

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Speaker 1: In this case that sounded really sorry, like.

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Speaker 5: Do you know think about my legal.

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Speaker 4: I am happy to take home the not the winning award,

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Speaker 4: but the second runner up whatever you want to call it.

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Speaker 4: Shorty Award for Best Tech and Science Podcast. Major shout

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Speaker 4: out star team Joey and Tari and Jonathan and Mike. Also,

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Speaker 4: speaking of Joey, I heard Joey on Stuff I've Never

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Speaker 4: Told You doing that episode about Coosa and it was

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Speaker 4: a really good episode. So they did of y'all yeah

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Speaker 4: for that one. Yeah, this summer is winding down Thank God.

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Speaker 4: I'm really looking forward to fall. This summer didn't really

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Speaker 4: take for me. How has the summer been.

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Speaker 1: For y'all, you're asking while we're in the middle of

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Speaker 1: like hurricane season. Yeah, so we've had a lot of rain,

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Speaker 1: and a lot more rain is coming today, especially in

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Speaker 1: this week. So I will say though, as a person

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Speaker 1: who does enjoy like some of the somber parts of

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Speaker 1: the weather, like the like the darkness and the lightning,

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Speaker 1: as long as I'm not near it, because I do

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Speaker 1: have a small fear of that lightning. I am much

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Speaker 1: like my dog. But the heat, I'm good without it.

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Speaker 1: But I do have a fear of winter in that

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Speaker 1: I don't like being cold, so I feel like that's

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Speaker 1: too close to So I'm just an unhappy person.

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Speaker 4: You don't want any of the seasons Like winter, I

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Speaker 4: don't care for it.

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Speaker 1: I love fall and spring, but it's so sure that

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Speaker 1: i'llo get okay, I'm unhappy again.

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Speaker 4: I'm ready for like it's it's been so hot in DC.

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Speaker 4: I'm I'm so ready to like be contemplative with a

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Speaker 4: sweater and like walk around holding a coffee and like,

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Speaker 4: you know, all the little all the things that you

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Speaker 4: associate with fall.

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Speaker 5: I'm ready for it.

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Speaker 1: Well, I am like a my personality is Cardigan. Like

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Speaker 1: that's just the personality that I am. So I am

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Speaker 1: looking forward to that too.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, your personality can really shine, It's true.

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Speaker 1: Cardigan'style poncho, A good poncho and what I mean poncho.

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Speaker 1: I'm talking like you know, the sweater ponchos. I am

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Speaker 1: that girl. Don't worry about me. I'll be in the

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Speaker 1: order with my poncho and Cardigans cozy every day. It

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Speaker 1: sounds great, Annie, now you feel about it.

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Speaker 3: Uh, I'm ready for it to be over.

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Speaker 2: While I was complaining about my AC unit, my window

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Speaker 2: AC unit just now. But I do agree with you, Bridget.

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Speaker 2: It didn't feel like it it took because I'm still

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Speaker 2: I am definitely going out more than I did, but

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Speaker 2: when the pandemic was like enfuls thing, but I'm still like,

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Speaker 2: I don't go out nearly as often, so I don't

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Speaker 2: go outside all the time, and so I'm just getting

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Speaker 2: like the heat with my sad ac unit and not

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Speaker 2: any of that other stuff.

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Speaker 3: So it doesn't.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it just sort of felt like, oh, falls coming out, Okay,

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Speaker 2: you know, miss it? Yeah, And I follows my favorite

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Speaker 2: month of season, so I'm very very excited for that.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, it is supposed to rain pretty badly today

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Speaker 2: and this there might be thunder. The power might go up.

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Speaker 2: My power goes out all the time, so we'll see.

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Speaker 2: But I feel like it's appropriate for what we're talking.

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Speaker 5: About on the horizon to be aware. That is a

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Speaker 5: masterful segue. You're a real tro Thank you.

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Speaker 2: I have a very specific skill set and it's like

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Speaker 2: bad puns and some interesting segues transitioning perfect.

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Speaker 4: Well, yeah, that's a great transition because we gotta be

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Speaker 4: aware of all the different Supreme Court legal challenges and

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Speaker 4: storms on the horizon, one of which I am talking

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Speaker 4: about today, and that's because the man who brought us

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Speaker 4: the legal challenge that struck down affirmative action earlier this

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Speaker 4: summer is back, and this time he is coming for

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Speaker 4: grants and the fellowships that support marginalized people. So you

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Speaker 4: all probably recall that earlier this summer, back in June,

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Speaker 4: the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action, ruling that race

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Speaker 4: can no longer play a part in college admissions.

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Speaker 5: Notably, the decision just applied to race.

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Speaker 4: It did not apply to gender or things like legacy

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Speaker 4: status or donor status being considered in the college admissions process. Separately,

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Speaker 4: some colleges, like Harvard have signaled that they might start

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Speaker 4: re examining the role that things like legacy status plays

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Speaker 4: in college admissions in light of that Supreme Court ruling.

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Speaker 4: Do you all remember this. I remember when the ruling

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Speaker 4: was struck down, how big it felt, especially being a

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Speaker 4: big Supreme Court ruling about a year after the after

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Speaker 4: row was struck down, it felt like, you know, one

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Speaker 4: big torrent of rain and then another big torrent of

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Speaker 4: rain to continue your metaphor, Annie.

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Speaker 1: Yes, metaphor nicely done.

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Speaker 2: Yes, Yeah, No, it definitely did, because that was at

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Speaker 2: the end of the Supreme Court session and there had

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Speaker 2: just been a lot of I mean, it turned out

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Speaker 2: to be true, but a lot of fear around like

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Speaker 2: what will they do?

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Speaker 4: Right?

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Speaker 5: It just made like all.

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Speaker 3: Of these decisions in one day.

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Speaker 1: One day. Yeah, you know, it's odd because I was

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Speaker 1: absolutely alive, and I think, like talking about trying to

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Speaker 1: get into school and having this whole conversation when I'm

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Speaker 1: a firmative action was coming into debate to begin with,

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Speaker 1: and to see it like this, I'm not gonna lie,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna be very transparent here as growing up in

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Speaker 1: a white household who are very conservative, not around any

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Speaker 1: marginalized groups outside of me, who they rescued and put

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Speaker 1: that in air quotes out of like a marginalized a

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Speaker 1: bad situation, seeing what they were saying was feded into

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Speaker 1: me and being like, yeah, I absolutely agree that I

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Speaker 1: should not get I don't want to be given a

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Speaker 1: special spot because of my race. I want to earn it.

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Speaker 1: Like I said that out loud to my family before

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Speaker 1: I started college, in any of that, not understanding what

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Speaker 1: it really was, and I truly believe my parents believe that.

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Speaker 1: I don't think my siblings believe that because they're they

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Speaker 1: are educated and they'd understand, but I truly believe that

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Speaker 1: because that was what was fed into me. So I

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Speaker 1: have this real, like ugh ick feeling about this whole

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Speaker 1: action because the face of the suit was an Asian

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Speaker 1: man who was bitter, bitter little baby that I feel

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Speaker 1: like so many ways about it, and then coming into

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Speaker 1: college on my own and then understanding what it truly

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Speaker 1: was and realizing, oh yeah, that stuff that I spewed

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Speaker 1: out as a kid was actual white supremacy coming out

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Speaker 1: of my mouth because I was trying to impress my

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Speaker 1: white family and being fed a bunch of lies. So

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Speaker 1: it was it felt like so gross to know that

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Speaker 1: I was manipulated like that at my young age, at

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Speaker 1: my young age. Also that I think, I don't know

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Speaker 1: how old the students. I guess he was trying to

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Speaker 1: get into college, so I guess maybe around the same time,

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Speaker 1: and then coming into this now that I'm like, oh

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Speaker 1: my god, what have we done? Essentially like with allowing

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Speaker 1: these types of lies to perpetuate and not looking at

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Speaker 1: the true statistics behind these actual numbers and why affirmative

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Speaker 1: action was and is necessary. But again, because of that

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Speaker 1: rhetoric being around, it wasn't surprising that it was undone

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Speaker 1: because it was truly hanging on by a thread because

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Speaker 1: of those types of lies. But yeah, I have like

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Speaker 1: this ache and like mourning in guilt, guilt by association

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Speaker 1: and guilt by like past actions that I'm like, oh

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Speaker 1: my god, what is this Like? Part of what I

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Speaker 1: was spewing is part of the reason this is undone.

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Speaker 1: Of course, the bigger picture is again white supremacists and

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Speaker 1: their power that they wanted to play and the overall

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Speaker 1: arcing like who was doing the main grab and trying

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Speaker 1: to make sure that what marginalized people stay down and

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Speaker 1: stay unable to get to any of these places because

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Speaker 1: they do not have the connections essentially just all connections,

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Speaker 1: not even money anymore so connections, and it's just disgusting. So, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I have very strong feelings.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I first of all, thank you for sharing that,

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Speaker 4: and I can kind of identify, I know how you feel.

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Speaker 4: I don't think that you need to have guilt for

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Speaker 4: having felt that way, because, first of all, we live

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Speaker 4: in a society where it's so easy to pit marginalize

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Speaker 4: people against each other in service as upholding white supremacy.

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Speaker 4: Like that is a and true method that bad actors

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Speaker 4: and people interested in upholding white supremacy have engaged for

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Speaker 4: a very long time. And so the reason they do

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Speaker 4: it is because it's effective, and so it's not surprising

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Speaker 4: that it will be effective on you, a young person. Also,

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Speaker 4: the way that we talk about it, I think just

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Speaker 4: does not set people up to have a full understanding

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Speaker 4: of the conversation. Right, So we talk so much about

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Speaker 4: affirmative action, and when we talk about affirmative action, usually

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Speaker 4: the face of affirmative action is a black person, right,

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Speaker 4: And so we're talking about like, oh, well, do you

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Speaker 4: think that black people should get a leg up in

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Speaker 4: admissions processes? Of course people are not gonna agree with that.

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Speaker 4: But the reality is is that that is a myth

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Speaker 4: because the Department of Labor shows that the primary beneficiaries

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Speaker 4: of affirmative action are actually white women. That is not

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Speaker 4: what the way that are, the way that we talk

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Speaker 4: about it would lead you to believe, right. And so

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Speaker 4: another idea is that when we talk about admissions.

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Speaker 5: So I would say, this is just my opinion, but

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Speaker 5: I would say that.

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Speaker 4: There is an outsized space given to conversations about affirmative action, which,

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Speaker 4: as I said, are sort of translated through like oh

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Speaker 4: black people that go the face of it, and so

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Speaker 4: much less space given to things like legacy.

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Speaker 5: Status, which I think I had a stat earlier.

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Speaker 4: But it's some astronomical amount of kids in college get

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Speaker 4: there because they are their parents went to that college,

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Speaker 4: or their parents are donors to that college, or some

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Speaker 4: sort of a leg up. And essentially what that is

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Speaker 4: is like affirmative action for rich people. Yeah, we don't

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Speaker 4: even it's not even part of the conversation. And certainly

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Speaker 4: has not been part of the conversation the way that

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Speaker 4: affirmative action has been. So I would argue that, like,

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Speaker 4: you were not given a clear picture of the issue

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Speaker 4: in order to be able to like thoughtfully come up

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Speaker 4: with a critique or an opinion about it, right, And

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Speaker 4: I think that that has to be by design.

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Speaker 1: Right absolutely. I think in the understanding, as you are saying,

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Speaker 1: is the rhetoric I was given was all anti black.

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Speaker 1: Like we're going to be very very specific in calling

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Speaker 1: it what it was. It wasn't about anything else. It

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Speaker 1: wasn't about me being a minority or like being Asian

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Speaker 1: and a marginalized woman. Is literally they were trying to

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Speaker 1: be anti black. They were staying the quiet part out

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Speaker 1: loud because that's all they see. That's the big enemy

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Speaker 1: that is built up against white people, which is so

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Speaker 1: disgusting and it's very prevalent. Like that's the real understanding.

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Speaker 1: You need to have that whole fact and hold that

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Speaker 1: conversation is this is an anti black movement, and in

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Speaker 1: that it had, it did not It did not actually

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Speaker 1: help to the black community that much at all. It

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Speaker 1: really did not bring in, as you said, statistically, black

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Speaker 1: people into colleges. It was again more white women, all

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Speaker 1: white women essentially, and then again the legacy people that

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Speaker 1: those are the people who are still remaining and going

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Speaker 1: to colleges and still getting scholarships to get into these colleges,

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Speaker 1: and still getting like loans at a reason interest rate

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Speaker 1: all of those things. But for some reason, they built

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Speaker 1: this boogieman, not some reason, we know why, but they

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Speaker 1: built a boogieman in order to make sure that they

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Speaker 1: put down a specific group of people because they're like, hey,

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Speaker 1: this is about all we can win. We've always won

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Speaker 1: with this exactly, let's do this.

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Speaker 4: Anti blackness is always that is a train that's always

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Speaker 4: on time.

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Speaker 5: So what's interesting.

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Speaker 4: About what you just said is that white women, despite

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Speaker 4: being the biggest beneficiaries of affirmative action, are also the

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Speaker 4: most likely to be against it. So, according to a

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Speaker 4: twenty fourteen Cooperative Congressional Election study, nearly seventy percent of

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Speaker 4: the twenty thousand, six hundred and ninety four self identified

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Speaker 4: non Hispanic white women surveyed either somewhat or strongly opposed

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Speaker 4: affirmative action. Again, I think it's like one of those

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Speaker 4: situations where because the way that it is framed is

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Speaker 4: like this is a program that helps black people, and

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Speaker 4: if you don't think black people should be getting a

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Speaker 4: leg up over you, you should not be into it.

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Speaker 5: You should be against it.

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Speaker 4: That rhetoric actually ends up hurting all marginalized people, whether

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Speaker 4: you're a white woman, because you know, like it's one

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Speaker 4: of those dynamics where the anti blackness becomes a way.

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Speaker 5: To get people on board.

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Speaker 4: But then that is not an accurate reflection of who

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Speaker 4: the beneficiaries of programs like affirmative action actually end up being. Right, So, Annie,

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Speaker 4: you were saying how Asian Americans were kind of made

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Speaker 4: the face of the sort of victims of affirmative action,

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Speaker 4: and that is very much by design because of this

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Speaker 4: guy who is a conservative litigant named Edward Blum.

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Speaker 5: I call him a.

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Speaker 4: Litigant because that's like kind of what he is, like

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Speaker 4: a professional lawsuit bringer. He is not a lawyer himself,

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Speaker 4: but he basically connects potential plaintiffs with attorneys who are

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Speaker 4: willing to represent them in test cases, which he then

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Speaker 4: uses to try to set legal presidents. He is the

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Speaker 4: founder and sole member of an organization called Project on

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Speaker 4: Fair Representation, which he found that in two thousand and five,

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Speaker 4: which focuses on voting, education, contracting, employment, racial quotas, and

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Speaker 4: racial reparations. Basically, his whole thing is bringing legal challenges

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Speaker 4: to strike down laws that I would argue protect non white,

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Speaker 4: non straight, non men. More on this later. However, if

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Speaker 4: you were to ask him, he would probably say that

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Speaker 4: it's not that he wants to elevate like one race

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Speaker 4: over anybody else, but that he wants all laws and

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Speaker 4: all like public considerations to be race or identity neutral.

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Speaker 4: He has described his ethos like this quote, our history

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Speaker 4: has been tainted tragically by the use of race in

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Speaker 4: various public and private arenas. Race discrimination is odious, something

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Speaker 4: the founding principles of the Civil Rights movement were designed

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Speaker 4: to eliminate. Personally, I would say that I don't know

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Speaker 4: if I buy what he is saying. It seems like

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Speaker 4: an awfully convenient way to justify the fact that he

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Speaker 4: keeps gutting laws that protect marginalized people. But there you

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Speaker 4: have it. That is what he says. His motivation is.

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Speaker 4: He just thinks that everything should be race neutral.

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Speaker 1: Right.

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Speaker 4: The Guardians ripes him as quote a human wrecking ball

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Speaker 4: on a mission to destroy the landmark achievements of the

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Speaker 4: Civil Rights era and send the country back to a

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Speaker 4: dark age of discrimination and harassment of minorities in the

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Speaker 4: workplace and higher education and at the ballot box.

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Speaker 1: H Well, I mean this is the very basis of

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Speaker 1: hitting that level of if everything was fair from the beginning,

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Speaker 1: great great, if everything was equal and everybody had same equity,

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Speaker 1: that would be a beautiful utopia. But as we know,

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Speaker 1: this land, this country, most countries that have been colonized,

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Speaker 1: is not based on that level, and that it has

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Speaker 1: never been about equity, has always been about who has

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Speaker 1: power and those who have power. Really was like, but

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Speaker 1: I love that time. That was a great time, But

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Speaker 1: can't we have that again? Which is like, hmm, you know,

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Speaker 1: we know what you're really saying exactly.

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Speaker 4: The affirmative action ruling was not Flump's first rodeo. A

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Speaker 4: legal challenge that he brought was what led to the

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Speaker 4: gutting of the Voting Rights Act. That was the Shelby

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Speaker 4: County Versus Holder case that he sponsored in twenty thirteen,

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Speaker 4: and it led to the Supreme Court overturning a key

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Speaker 4: provision in the nineteen sixty five Voting Rights Act. That

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Speaker 4: legal challenge is when we saw the introduction of things

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Speaker 4: like voter ID requirements, cutting back on early voting, eliminating

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Speaker 4: same day voter registration.

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Speaker 5: All of that was because of him. So thank you Edward.

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Speaker 4: Blum for ushering that into our landscape.

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Speaker 1: He's really the villain, yea.

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Speaker 4: In all the story on my podcast, there are no

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Speaker 4: girls on the Internet. We've referred to him a lot

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Speaker 4: as just like a professional hater, Like he's just someone

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Speaker 4: who like just like hate hate haty hate hate, like go,

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Speaker 4: I don't like that hate hate hate like professional hater.

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Speaker 1: Is he does?

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Speaker 5: He is?

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Speaker 1: He very rich.

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Speaker 5: I think he's wealthy, like I think I think.

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Speaker 4: That he I've actually looked into him because I'm he's

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Speaker 4: one of those figures that.

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Speaker 5: I find so cure.

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Speaker 4: He did not come from wealth, but I think that

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Speaker 4: he has wealth now and he's just interested in using

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Speaker 4: that wealth and influencing those connections into creating these different

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Speaker 4: legal precedents that I would say harm us.

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Speaker 1: All right, he is that evil genius because we've seen

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Speaker 1: that in a lot of conservative think tanks as well

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Speaker 1: as essentially right wing groups that have been building up

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Speaker 1: the legal system to only help them, putting in uh

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Speaker 1: those in law school that they know that they can

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Speaker 1: pull back out, educating them and funding them to the

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Speaker 1: full in order to come back out and do these

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Speaker 1: types of cases, knowing that if they can do this,

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Speaker 1: this is going to be the basis of how they

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Speaker 1: win essential.

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Speaker 4: Oh yes, did you guys, did you all see that

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Speaker 4: docuseries on the Duggers on Hulu?

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Speaker 1: No, I couldn't get to their yet.

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Speaker 5: So that's the whole thing. It's a real like Jeze

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Speaker 5: as you might imagine.

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Speaker 1: Sure.

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Speaker 4: One of the things they make very clear is that

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Speaker 4: it's not just about like this one problematic super religious

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Speaker 4: family on TV.

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Speaker 5: It is about this vast network.

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Speaker 4: Of young people who are being trained and educated and

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Speaker 4: oursol are very well connected to reach the highest levels

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Speaker 4: of government and influence to make laws for all of us.

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Speaker 4: So it's not enough that like their kids are homeschooled,

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Speaker 4: or that their kids live a certain way. They are

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Speaker 4: training the next generation of political operatives and lawmakers to

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Speaker 4: make sure that all of us and all of our

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Speaker 4: kids live the way that they think that they should

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Speaker 4: be living. So it's pretty, I guess some diabolical.

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Speaker 5: It's the word I would use.

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Speaker 4: You mentioned earlier, how when you were having conversations about college,

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Speaker 4: you remember watching the first wave of the affirmative action

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Speaker 4: legal challenge go down, and even if folks weren't following

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Speaker 4: affirmative action very closely, they might remember Blum's earlier attempt

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Speaker 4: to challenge it. So Blum had been working to challenge

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Speaker 4: affirmative action since twenty thirteen, when he worked with this woman,

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Speaker 4: Abigail Fisher, who was the daughter of a good friend

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Speaker 4: of his who was a white woman.

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Speaker 5: She you might umber shid red hair.

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Speaker 4: She did not get into University of Texas because her

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Speaker 4: GPA was frankly mid. She sued the University of Texas

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Speaker 4: at Austin in two thousand and eight after it denied

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Speaker 4: her admission. She had a three point five to nine

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Speaker 4: GPA as a senior, which put her just below the

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Speaker 4: cutoff for a state law requiring UT to accept any

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Speaker 4: graduate in the top ten percent of their high school class.

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Speaker 4: So like mathematically speaking, she was not in the top

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Speaker 4: ten percent of her.

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Speaker 5: High school class.

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Speaker 4: She felt that she should have still gotten admission because

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Speaker 4: of her extracurricular activities combined with her GPA, and that

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Speaker 4: she would have gotten into UT if the university had

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Speaker 4: not used race as a factor in selecting its freshman class,

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Speaker 4: which she argued was a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's

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Speaker 4: Equal Protection clause.

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Speaker 5: Do you all remember this? Like she was like a

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Speaker 5: very like memorable figure, Like.

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Speaker 4: I feel like when I when I hear about this,

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Speaker 4: I can see this one image of her standing at

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Speaker 4: a podium outside of the Supreme Court, which is like

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Speaker 4: burned in my mind.

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Speaker 1: I do remember this because I remember thinking, this is

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Speaker 1: the dumbest argument I've ever seen, because I'm like, girl,

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Speaker 1: you didn't make it, Like even without a firmative action,

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Speaker 1: you wouldn't have you wouldn't have made it. Do you

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Speaker 1: not understand how many people are struggling to get into

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Speaker 1: college today because a little more access has happened, not

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Speaker 1: just because of a firmative action, but like the lottery

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Speaker 1: and all of those things when we had more scholarships.

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Speaker 1: I was just like, why are people listening to her?

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Speaker 1: I think that was the biggest question in my head.

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Speaker 1: I was like, why are we paying attention to this?

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Speaker 1: Like she has no case, I think I thought.

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Speaker 3: I remember thinking though, like is this an onion headbline?

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Speaker 5: Like she did.

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Speaker 3: The grades are bad and now she's.

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Speaker 1: I think that was the beginning of like, oh, this

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Speaker 1: is a Becky Sorry Becky's in the world, that's really

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Speaker 1: just whining because she couldn't get her away like that.

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Speaker 1: I remember like that was the beginning of that of like, oh,

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Speaker 1: sorority girl was again no no, no, no hate to

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Speaker 1: sorority people. I'm so sorry, but you know that level

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Speaker 1: like stereotype in that my daddy said that I could

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Speaker 1: get in and now I'm not in.

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Speaker 4: Why so the way that y'all are reacting is exactly

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Speaker 4: how I'm this is validating because I remember her being

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Speaker 4: treated like kind of a joke, like her GP was

442
00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:24,080
Speaker 4: like fine, but certainly at three point a lot higher

443
00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:25,600
Speaker 4: than my GPA was when I was in high school,

444
00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:26,840
Speaker 4: so like I'll.

445
00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:28,640
Speaker 5: Own that, but like you know.

446
00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:30,960
Speaker 4: It's not three point five nine is not an automatic

447
00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:32,600
Speaker 4: entrance to wherever you want to go to college.

448
00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:35,760
Speaker 5: It's like a fine GPA, And so I remember people calling.

449
00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:38,960
Speaker 4: Her Becky with the bad grades, and the vibe around

450
00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:42,040
Speaker 4: her was like she was just salty that she didn't

451
00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:45,480
Speaker 4: get in, and so she was like blaming black people.

452
00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,480
Speaker 4: And so obviously she was not a very I guess,

453
00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:51,320
Speaker 4: sympathetic legal challenge to affirmative action.

454
00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:55,000
Speaker 5: So obviously Abigail's legal challenge did not work.

455
00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:58,800
Speaker 4: So bum regrouped and made the strategic choice to make

456
00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:01,359
Speaker 4: the face of affirmative action, or the people being harmed

457
00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:04,639
Speaker 4: by affirmative action, according to him, Asian Americans. According to

458
00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:07,360
Speaker 4: an NPR article he told a gathering of the Houston

459
00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:10,800
Speaker 4: Chinese Alliance in twenty fifteen, quote, I needed plaintiffs.

460
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:12,480
Speaker 5: I needed Asian plaintiffs.

461
00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:16,200
Speaker 4: NPR spoke to Hannay Lopez, a race and constitutional law

462
00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:19,800
Speaker 4: scholar at Berkeley, who described this as a deliberate switch

463
00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:23,640
Speaker 4: in strategy, and that the argument was no longer centered

464
00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:27,200
Speaker 4: on how affirmative action impacts white people. Instead quote, there's

465
00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:29,920
Speaker 4: this move to strengthen the surface argument that this is

466
00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:31,400
Speaker 4: racism against minorities.

467
00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:32,800
Speaker 5: I think it's part of the appeal.

468
00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:36,440
Speaker 4: And so I've read like Asian American activists and advocates

469
00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:40,119
Speaker 4: saying that, like what he was doing was this intentional

470
00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:44,840
Speaker 4: shift to make Asian Americans like a proxy stand.

471
00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:48,320
Speaker 5: In for white people to be like, oh no, like this.

472
00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:52,000
Speaker 4: Can't be about racial animis because I am trying to

473
00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:55,480
Speaker 4: advocate for Asian Americans. And again, I think it's a

474
00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:59,480
Speaker 4: really great example of how effective a strategy it is

475
00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:02,920
Speaker 4: to pit marginalized groups against one another in service of

476
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:07,840
Speaker 4: white supremacy, because in the end, it's not like I think,

477
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:11,560
Speaker 4: since affirmative action has been struck down, we've already seen

478
00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:14,600
Speaker 4: data trickle in that wasn't that long ago, but already

479
00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:17,359
Speaker 4: we've seen data trickle in that suggests that like, yeah,

480
00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:19,360
Speaker 4: it's it's white.

481
00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:20,360
Speaker 5: People with connections.

482
00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:24,800
Speaker 4: It's white legacy students who are continuing to get more

483
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:28,240
Speaker 4: slots in admissions. It's not you know, it's certainly not

484
00:25:28,359 --> 00:25:32,120
Speaker 4: helping the Asian Americans who were who brought this challenge.

485
00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:33,520
Speaker 5: It's actually just opening.

486
00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:36,920
Speaker 4: Up more slots for more rich white people, because that's

487
00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:39,480
Speaker 4: how college works in the United States, right.

488
00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:43,240
Speaker 1: And of course this play is being used by other

489
00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:48,280
Speaker 1: places such as Florida do doing the Asian American history

490
00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:52,120
Speaker 1: instead but blacklisting African American history. And we know what

491
00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:54,840
Speaker 1: that play is that that's the same type of narrative.

492
00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:57,080
Speaker 1: They're like, oh, this is working, let's try this, let's

493
00:25:57,160 --> 00:25:58,600
Speaker 1: keep this going exactly.

494
00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:02,239
Speaker 4: So, I really want to talk about so, after on

495
00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:05,640
Speaker 4: the heels of successfully getting the Supreme Court to strike

496
00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,320
Speaker 4: down affirmative action, what is Blum's next move?

497
00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:09,360
Speaker 5: Well, he is.

498
00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,640
Speaker 4: Back after gutting affirmative action, his next move is going

499
00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:16,679
Speaker 4: after fellowships and grant programs that support marginalized people. He

500
00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:19,440
Speaker 4: is suing two corporate law firms on the grounds that

501
00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:21,920
Speaker 4: they're fellowship programs that are aimed at students of color,

502
00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,880
Speaker 4: those who identify as LGBTQ plus, and students with disabilities,

503
00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:29,399
Speaker 4: exclude applicants based on race, and he is demanding that

504
00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:33,719
Speaker 4: those programs be shut down. He is also suing a

505
00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:37,120
Speaker 4: black venture capital firm called the Fearless Fund. So this

506
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:39,080
Speaker 4: is kind of the meat of why I wanted to

507
00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:42,560
Speaker 4: bring this conversation to the table today, because he is

508
00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:46,679
Speaker 4: alleging that the Fearless Fund is practicing unlawful racial discrimination.

509
00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:50,399
Speaker 4: Blum claims the Fearless Fund is engaged in explicit racial

510
00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:54,560
Speaker 4: exclusion by operating a grant program quote only open to

511
00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:58,119
Speaker 4: black females. According to The Washington Post, the lawsuit is

512
00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:00,720
Speaker 4: asked to prevent the Fund from selecting its next round

513
00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:02,760
Speaker 4: of grant winners. The claim states that the firm is

514
00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:05,600
Speaker 4: quote violating Section nineteen eighty one of the Civil Rights

515
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,440
Speaker 4: Act of eighteen sixty six, a US law barring racial

516
00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:12,280
Speaker 4: bias in private contracts, by making only black women eligible

517
00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:13,480
Speaker 4: in the grant competition.

518
00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:19,320
Speaker 5: So yeah, he's just like coming after anything that he

519
00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:23,159
Speaker 5: sees as supporting non white people.

520
00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:26,280
Speaker 4: The Fearless fun was launched in twenty nineteen by three

521
00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,560
Speaker 4: prominent black women, Keisha Knight Pullman who you might remember

522
00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:34,000
Speaker 4: as Rudy Huxtable on The Cosby Show, entrepreneur arian Simone,

523
00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:37,960
Speaker 4: and corporate executive Ayana Parsons. They have a strong and

524
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:42,240
Speaker 4: impressive list of investors like Bank of America, Costco, General Mills, MasterCard,

525
00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:45,520
Speaker 4: JP Morgan. They've invested in over forty businesses in the

526
00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:48,840
Speaker 4: past four years, including Atlanta favorite The Slutty Vegan.

527
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:49,680
Speaker 5: Have y'all eaten there?

528
00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:53,000
Speaker 1: Oh? Yeah, it was near my house that I lived.

529
00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:56,399
Speaker 2: Yeah, Samantha was smart and went during the Super Bowl,

530
00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:58,480
Speaker 2: so there was no one there.

531
00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:03,159
Speaker 1: They are open till two am, and so when the

532
00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:06,119
Speaker 1: Super Bowl because it's always packed out, and what we

533
00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:09,560
Speaker 1: went at it still took forever. They made good food.

534
00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:12,560
Speaker 1: It takes a while, but yeah, we would. I think

535
00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:15,359
Speaker 1: the only been once though, it's I don't stand in lines.

536
00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:18,120
Speaker 3: It was a long line. I've never been.

537
00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:23,040
Speaker 1: But and she has expanded that business everywhere, especially in

538
00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:26,120
Speaker 1: Atlanta and then Georgia. So good on her and owns

539
00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:27,240
Speaker 1: a lot of property.

540
00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:29,960
Speaker 4: That wouldn't be possible without the Fearless Fund. And so

541
00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:34,400
Speaker 4: the lawsuit that Blum is bringing centers on the Fearless

542
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,960
Speaker 4: Funds Fearless Strivers Grant contest, which awards black women who

543
00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:40,959
Speaker 4: own small businesses twenty thousand dollars in grants and digital

544
00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:44,720
Speaker 4: tools to help them grow their businesses and mentorship opportunities.

545
00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:49,520
Speaker 4: So interestingly enough, Blama did not seek out the Fearless

546
00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:51,960
Speaker 4: Fund to sue, but rather, he says that a non

547
00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:54,719
Speaker 4: black woman who runs a business reached out to him

548
00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:58,600
Speaker 4: via email and flagged like, did you know that these

549
00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:01,160
Speaker 4: black women are running a grant program that I can't

550
00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:04,240
Speaker 4: be part of? And so the Washington Post reports, but

551
00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:07,520
Speaker 4: the lawsuit sites three female business owners, one from New

552
00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:10,160
Speaker 4: York and two from Virginia who argued that they could

553
00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:13,239
Speaker 4: have benefited from the Fearless Funds grant program, but they

554
00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:17,600
Speaker 4: were ineligible because they are not black. So yeah, these

555
00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:22,959
Speaker 4: non black women basically just felt like they should be

556
00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:27,000
Speaker 4: entitled to this grant program that black women established for

557
00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:29,040
Speaker 4: themselves to support black women.

558
00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:32,040
Speaker 5: They were like, we should have a piece of that.

559
00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:34,880
Speaker 1: That's such an interesting take because I'm like, well, you

560
00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:39,600
Speaker 1: also didn't get it from every other business grant ever,

561
00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:43,160
Speaker 1: so why are you choosing this like you want? Did

562
00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:46,280
Speaker 1: you try for it? This just seems like a lazy

563
00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:48,600
Speaker 1: part of like I want this one thing, I couldn't

564
00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:49,160
Speaker 1: get it. I quit.

565
00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:54,480
Speaker 4: They're biased, Like yeah, I mean, this is just my opinion,

566
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:58,600
Speaker 4: and but like it's so hard to not see this

567
00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:01,680
Speaker 4: as like just hater vibe. It's like everything has to

568
00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:03,520
Speaker 4: be for you, and if it's not for you, you

569
00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:06,480
Speaker 4: have to shut it down. I think it goes back

570
00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:10,000
Speaker 4: to what we were saying earlier about the women who

571
00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:13,120
Speaker 4: benefit from affirmative action are also the ones who are

572
00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:14,520
Speaker 4: the most likely to.

573
00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:15,200
Speaker 5: Be against it.

574
00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:20,560
Speaker 4: I firmly believe that there is enough out there for

575
00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:23,560
Speaker 4: all of us. And I'm an entrepreneur, right so I

576
00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:28,720
Speaker 4: know how hard the funding spaces for women, all women,

577
00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:31,560
Speaker 4: but I know how hard it is for black women,

578
00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:33,480
Speaker 4: in particular as a black woman. We'll get into some

579
00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:35,960
Speaker 4: of the stats in just a moment, but I believe

580
00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:40,000
Speaker 4: that despite that, there is enough for everyone. Everyone will

581
00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:42,720
Speaker 4: find their lane, everyone will find their people, everyone will

582
00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:45,040
Speaker 4: find what they need to make what they want happen.

583
00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:48,840
Speaker 4: I believe that as like a meditation that keeps me

584
00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:52,560
Speaker 4: in this work and keeps me being an entrepreneur.

585
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:56,280
Speaker 5: But I feel like the dynamic.

586
00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:59,360
Speaker 4: That says that women need to be pit against each other,

587
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:01,600
Speaker 4: that if you're a white woman you need to be

588
00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:04,160
Speaker 4: trying to shut down a grant that.

589
00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:04,960
Speaker 5: Is for black women.

590
00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:07,840
Speaker 4: That's not a dynamic that helps anybody, right, And so

591
00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:10,720
Speaker 4: I think that we all have our place, we all

592
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:12,720
Speaker 4: have our niche es enough for all of us. But

593
00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:16,160
Speaker 4: that dynamic that we are enemies only serve that does

594
00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:18,360
Speaker 4: not serve anybody. It doesn't serve me, It doesn't serve

595
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:20,920
Speaker 4: it. It ultimately won't serve them as either. It just keeps

596
00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:24,280
Speaker 4: us pit against each other as opposed to these larger

597
00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:26,400
Speaker 4: systems that are actually holding us all down.

598
00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:28,920
Speaker 1: It's such a mind play that they have to people

599
00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:30,880
Speaker 1: have to go through to be like, Okay, I can't

600
00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:33,040
Speaker 1: get this one thing because they say I can't have it,

601
00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:35,000
Speaker 1: So that means no one should have it, because I'm

602
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,760
Speaker 1: gonna be miserable, and so are you. Misery Lifts Company.

603
00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:40,040
Speaker 1: We're going to keep this mentality going and then also

604
00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:43,360
Speaker 1: not look at the like here's the small thing versus

605
00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:46,000
Speaker 1: the giant amount of stuff that you also can't get

606
00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:49,400
Speaker 1: because you're not a rich white man, But you don't

607
00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:51,720
Speaker 1: care about that thing, Like that's the one thing that's

608
00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:54,400
Speaker 1: a little bit more accessible to tear someone down who

609
00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:56,720
Speaker 1: other people will help you tear down with, instead of

610
00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,240
Speaker 1: this big giant amount of cash that's just sitting here

611
00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:01,520
Speaker 1: for the white man. Like it's just I said, for

612
00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:04,560
Speaker 1: the white man, like I'm a native but like, but

613
00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:07,480
Speaker 1: you know, that's just like mind level, like how much

614
00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:10,760
Speaker 1: you're willing to ignore to be like, Okay, I'm at

615
00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:13,280
Speaker 1: the bottom. Who can I make lesser than me? Who

616
00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:15,120
Speaker 1: can I push down further than me? So at the

617
00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:17,400
Speaker 1: very least I'm not at the very bottom. Oh my god,

618
00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:18,640
Speaker 1: that's such a mind trick.

619
00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:20,880
Speaker 4: This reminds me of when I was a little kid

620
00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:24,000
Speaker 4: and my brother had this like free coupon for an

621
00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:26,600
Speaker 4: ice cream from McDonald's that he got from school. So

622
00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:29,520
Speaker 4: he went to McDonald's together and he got one ice cream,

623
00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:31,280
Speaker 4: and I didn't have any money because we were little kids,

624
00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:33,200
Speaker 4: and so they gave him his ice cream, and I

625
00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:35,160
Speaker 4: got very jealous, and so I smacked it out of

626
00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:37,200
Speaker 4: his hand on to the ground, and he was like, I.

627
00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:40,520
Speaker 5: Was gonna give you a bite. That's like because I.

628
00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:42,040
Speaker 4: Was like, I don't want him to get something that

629
00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:44,760
Speaker 4: I can't have it because I got a flattering story.

630
00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:48,000
Speaker 4: But I was like seven years old, right, because it's

631
00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:49,400
Speaker 4: like he was going to give me a bite. So

632
00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:51,480
Speaker 4: I missed out on getting my bite because I could

633
00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,280
Speaker 4: not just let him have something that I wanted and

634
00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:55,400
Speaker 4: felt entitled.

635
00:32:55,080 --> 00:33:01,280
Speaker 1: To you immediately and probably earned an accelerated reader.

636
00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:05,320
Speaker 4: What it was like, it was like a if you

637
00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:07,160
Speaker 4: read X amount of books, you get an ice an

638
00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:08,480
Speaker 4: ice cream coupon or something.

639
00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:12,760
Speaker 1: I weren't for this, but yeah, I think this is

640
00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:15,760
Speaker 1: so interesting. And the fact that he, of course Blum

641
00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:17,960
Speaker 1: had to pounce on this, I'm sure it was like

642
00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:20,920
Speaker 1: a gift for him. Yeah, I must take this.

643
00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:23,160
Speaker 4: He was like, ooh, I was looking for a way

644
00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:25,360
Speaker 4: to spread my hater vibes and yeah, I'm sure that

645
00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:28,120
Speaker 4: Supreme Court ruling and now this lands this gift lands

646
00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:28,880
Speaker 4: on my inbo.

647
00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:31,400
Speaker 1: And also makes me stronger, stronger than the woman who's complaining.

648
00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:45,560
Speaker 4: Exactly, So, Blum is using what he has called quote

649
00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:48,800
Speaker 4: the shoe on the other foot test. The rhetorical strategy

650
00:33:48,840 --> 00:33:52,000
Speaker 4: that he asked himself is if a grant program funded

651
00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:56,440
Speaker 4: white male business owners wouldn't be considered fair. But that test,

652
00:33:56,600 --> 00:33:59,680
Speaker 4: like you were saying, Sam, really assumes that we're all

653
00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:03,000
Speaker 4: equal will and all have equal access, which the data

654
00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:06,640
Speaker 4: could not paint a clearer picture about the fact that that.

655
00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:07,480
Speaker 5: Is not happening.

656
00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:11,000
Speaker 4: Black women are the fastest rising group of entrepreneurs in

657
00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:13,840
Speaker 4: the country. According to the Harvard Business Review in the US,

658
00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:16,560
Speaker 4: an astounding seventeen percent of Black women are in the

659
00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:19,000
Speaker 4: process of starting or running a new business. That's compared

660
00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:21,040
Speaker 4: to just ten percent of white women and fifteen percent

661
00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:24,800
Speaker 4: of white men. Yet, despite this lead, only three percent

662
00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:26,719
Speaker 4: of women are running mature businesses.

663
00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:30,200
Speaker 5: Why well, One big reason is access to capital.

664
00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:33,120
Speaker 4: Harvard Business Reviews research found that sixty one percent of

665
00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:36,080
Speaker 4: Black women self fund their total startup capital. This is

666
00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:38,600
Speaker 4: in spite of the fact that, in their finding, only

667
00:34:38,640 --> 00:34:41,200
Speaker 4: twenty nine percent of Black women entrepreneurs live in households

668
00:34:41,239 --> 00:34:44,359
Speaker 4: with incomes over seventy five thousand dollars, compared to fifty

669
00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:47,880
Speaker 4: two percent of white men. This data is also combined

670
00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:50,360
Speaker 4: with data suggesting that Black women are less likely to

671
00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:53,120
Speaker 4: own our own homes, pick on a higher level of

672
00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:55,440
Speaker 4: debt to do things like go to college and are

673
00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:58,520
Speaker 4: often like saddled with debt to go to college, right,

674
00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:02,600
Speaker 4: and so ultimately that leaves us saddled with more debt

675
00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:07,960
Speaker 4: and having fewer personal resources and low collateral. Black entrepreneurs

676
00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:11,240
Speaker 4: typically receive less than two percent of all venture capital

677
00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:14,640
Speaker 4: dollars each year, while companies led by black women receive

678
00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:17,480
Speaker 4: less than one percent of all funding.

679
00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:18,960
Speaker 5: This is according to Crunchbase.

680
00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:24,080
Speaker 4: So yeah, the funding landscape is not great for black women.

681
00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:27,759
Speaker 4: Less than one percent of funding goes to us, and

682
00:35:28,239 --> 00:35:30,879
Speaker 4: so the fact that we already don't get that much,

683
00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:35,680
Speaker 4: that there are grants and investment funds specifically aimed at

684
00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:40,600
Speaker 4: shifting those numbers just a tiny bit, like the Fearless Fund,

685
00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:42,520
Speaker 4: and that people are saying, no, we need to go

686
00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:45,280
Speaker 4: for that too, that less than one percent.

687
00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:47,520
Speaker 5: That goes to y'all that needs to go to us. Now.

688
00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:50,440
Speaker 4: In twenty twenty, Pew found that just three percent of

689
00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:53,759
Speaker 4: US businesses were black owned, while eighty six percent were

690
00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:57,399
Speaker 4: white owned. And so, yeah, as I said, like, as

691
00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:02,920
Speaker 4: an entrepreneur, this these kind of dismal numbers completely aligned

692
00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:06,120
Speaker 4: with my own experiences trying to raise money for projects

693
00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:08,560
Speaker 4: that I want to do. There's just not a lot

694
00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:13,839
Speaker 4: out there, and you really have to stay focused and

695
00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:17,240
Speaker 4: stay positive and not really let that sort of numbers

696
00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:19,239
Speaker 4: around how dismal things can be kind of get in

697
00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:21,239
Speaker 4: your head. But then on top of it, when you

698
00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:24,080
Speaker 4: have people like Blum and these women that he's representing

699
00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:27,120
Speaker 4: in this case, to challenge these funds, to challenge what

700
00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:29,759
Speaker 4: little is out there for black entrepreneurs who are women,

701
00:36:30,040 --> 00:36:33,719
Speaker 4: it's hard to internalize that as anything other than they

702
00:36:33,719 --> 00:36:34,480
Speaker 4: don't want us here.

703
00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:36,200
Speaker 5: They don't want us to have anything, you know.

704
00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:43,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, And it's so frustrating too, because a lot

705
00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:50,280
Speaker 2: of companies like to act like they are supporting marginalized people,

706
00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:54,000
Speaker 2: they are supporting black people, and they make these like

707
00:36:54,040 --> 00:37:00,399
Speaker 2: outward promises and then just don't really follow through with them.

708
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:03,200
Speaker 4: Yeah, y'all might remember or be thinking like I thought

709
00:37:03,239 --> 00:37:07,160
Speaker 4: in twenty twenty, like after all the racial justice uprisings,

710
00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:08,960
Speaker 4: I'm the wake of the murder of George Floyd, I

711
00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:11,359
Speaker 4: thought that all these businesses and funds and grants were

712
00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:15,799
Speaker 4: like going to start funding more diverse people and like

713
00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:19,520
Speaker 4: having a more inclusive portfolio. While I remember all those

714
00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:23,600
Speaker 4: promises too, businesses committed three hundred and forty billion dollars

715
00:37:24,120 --> 00:37:27,440
Speaker 4: between May twenty twenty and October twenty twenty two, according

716
00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:31,120
Speaker 4: to McKenzie, and the Post also reports that investments swelled

717
00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:34,160
Speaker 4: in the startup world. A record five point one billion

718
00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:36,920
Speaker 4: dollars in funding was allocated to black founded startups in

719
00:37:36,960 --> 00:37:37,920
Speaker 4: twenty twenty one.

720
00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:39,120
Speaker 5: That sounds like a lot.

721
00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:43,920
Speaker 4: However, all of that interest and excitement and commitment pretty

722
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:48,240
Speaker 4: much eroded very quickly, with funding for black founded startups

723
00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:52,600
Speaker 4: plunging fifty percent in twenty twenty two. So remember this

724
00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:55,680
Speaker 4: is all happening against the pendulum kind of swinging back

725
00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:58,720
Speaker 4: the other way where all of these corporate diversity efforts

726
00:37:58,719 --> 00:38:02,520
Speaker 4: became a political lightning rod, and these employers just sort

727
00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:04,920
Speaker 4: of backpedaled, right, And so I think that that's where

728
00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:07,799
Speaker 4: we're at now, where in twenty twenty people talked a

729
00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:10,359
Speaker 4: lot of big games about money they were gonna give

730
00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:11,120
Speaker 4: and funds.

731
00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:12,799
Speaker 5: They were gonna give, and how they were gonna you know,

732
00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:15,440
Speaker 5: support inclusive people.

733
00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:17,640
Speaker 4: And startups and YadA, YadA, YadA, and all of those

734
00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:20,600
Speaker 4: promises just fizzled out, right, And I think that we're

735
00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:23,480
Speaker 4: sort of seeing, I would argue, like a backlash to

736
00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:28,160
Speaker 4: that now where diversity and inclusion staffers are being let go.

737
00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:32,600
Speaker 4: I think like recently, Chick fil A just like happened

738
00:38:32,600 --> 00:38:35,960
Speaker 4: to have a diversity and inclusion person on their staff,

739
00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:39,600
Speaker 4: and like there was a flurry of like online protests

740
00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:42,960
Speaker 4: because of that. Like just having somebody thinking about that

741
00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:46,000
Speaker 4: on staff is now a lightning rod. And so obviously,

742
00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:49,600
Speaker 4: in that kind of climate, these organizations are not going

743
00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:53,120
Speaker 4: to be funding black women, even though they committed to it,

744
00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:54,800
Speaker 4: even though it seemed like that was there was a

745
00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:56,839
Speaker 4: lot of excitement around that, Like, yeah, I just think

746
00:38:56,840 --> 00:38:57,359
Speaker 4: that we're in a.

747
00:38:57,280 --> 00:38:58,839
Speaker 5: Completely different landscape than me we were.

748
00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:01,960
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty. This is definitely that whole level of

749
00:39:02,239 --> 00:39:05,399
Speaker 1: they want good publicity, but they're not going to follow through.

750
00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:09,160
Speaker 1: It's the black square. Let me pretend like I care,

751
00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:12,439
Speaker 1: and at the very least I'll be like, hey, let's

752
00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:14,759
Speaker 1: tell the black people in the story. Like that's That's

753
00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:18,680
Speaker 1: as far as their their actual actions went was putting

754
00:39:18,680 --> 00:39:21,840
Speaker 1: something on Instagram that they obviously deleted soon after because

755
00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:24,520
Speaker 1: they wanted to look okay for one group of people.

756
00:39:24,719 --> 00:39:26,400
Speaker 1: And I found that interesting that people are mad at

757
00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:29,560
Speaker 1: Chick fil A because it's like they're anti LGBTQ plus

758
00:39:29,640 --> 00:39:31,360
Speaker 1: so that's not enough for you. They need to be

759
00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:34,080
Speaker 1: racist and all of these things be in lune enough

760
00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:36,720
Speaker 1: for us to support you. You better be super super

761
00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:41,000
Speaker 1: racist and super super homophobic in order for the conservatives.

762
00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:44,600
Speaker 1: You can hate everyone except for white sis people. If not,

763
00:39:45,080 --> 00:39:47,560
Speaker 1: we're not gonna support you, even if your chicken is okay.

764
00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:50,440
Speaker 4: So it and like this is a little like unrelated,

765
00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:53,680
Speaker 4: but like I think that with a lot of these people.

766
00:39:53,719 --> 00:39:55,200
Speaker 4: The Chick fil A example that you just gave is

767
00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:58,719
Speaker 4: a great example. A lot of these people like just

768
00:39:58,760 --> 00:40:02,200
Speaker 4: they'll find anything to be aggrieved about. Like you know,

769
00:40:02,280 --> 00:40:07,440
Speaker 4: I saw like Cracker Barrel was adding plant based sausage

770
00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:10,359
Speaker 4: to their menu and people were like plant based sausage.

771
00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:12,399
Speaker 4: I'm not gonna shop at Cracker Barrel and I'm never

772
00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:14,479
Speaker 4: gonna go to Cracker Barrel again. And it's like they're

773
00:40:14,480 --> 00:40:16,480
Speaker 4: not taking regular sausage off the menu.

774
00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:19,160
Speaker 5: You don't have to order it.

775
00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:20,279
Speaker 4: Just because they're putting food on the menu that like

776
00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:22,040
Speaker 4: someone else might like, that's not you.

777
00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:27,080
Speaker 5: That's cause for upset. And so another thing I wanted.

778
00:40:26,840 --> 00:40:28,600
Speaker 4: To say about your point, Sam, is that there's a

779
00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:32,080
Speaker 4: makeup company Tart they got in hot Water earlier this

780
00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:35,399
Speaker 4: year because they were doing these brand trips that looked

781
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:37,320
Speaker 4: as if they were.

782
00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:40,319
Speaker 5: Not being inclusive of black influencers.

783
00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:42,560
Speaker 4: That they were asking black influencers like after the fact

784
00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:45,759
Speaker 4: to come and like giving them substandard accommodations and all

785
00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:49,200
Speaker 4: of that. And somebody found that in twenty twenty, you know,

786
00:40:49,239 --> 00:40:52,279
Speaker 4: they when they posted their black Square, this company was like,

787
00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:55,920
Speaker 4: we pledged that we're going to be more inclusive and

788
00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:58,960
Speaker 4: give more, do more partnerships with black and brown models,

789
00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:02,279
Speaker 4: and blah blah blah, and then they quietly removed that

790
00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:05,360
Speaker 4: from their website, but somebody found it on the wayback machine.

791
00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:08,520
Speaker 4: It was like, oh, let's get to update on all

792
00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:11,520
Speaker 4: of these like very specific commitments that you made. And

793
00:41:11,600 --> 00:41:13,440
Speaker 4: it turns out that they basically just like didn't do

794
00:41:13,520 --> 00:41:17,480
Speaker 4: any of that stuff. But the thing is, nobody put

795
00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:20,319
Speaker 4: a gun to your head and forced you to make

796
00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:24,440
Speaker 4: these commitments. You made these commitments and just to quietly

797
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:27,719
Speaker 4: be like mm just kidding, like that doesn't sit right

798
00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:29,920
Speaker 4: with me, Like nobody told you to do this. Nobody

799
00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:31,839
Speaker 4: told you to post a black square. You did it,

800
00:41:31,880 --> 00:41:35,520
Speaker 4: you volunteered to do it. So when people expect a

801
00:41:35,520 --> 00:41:39,120
Speaker 4: little follow through, that should be that should be a given.

802
00:41:39,400 --> 00:41:43,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I I think about this a lot too.

803
00:41:44,480 --> 00:41:47,200
Speaker 2: We talked about this with a lot of the like

804
00:41:47,239 --> 00:41:49,279
Speaker 2: what happened with blood Light, what happened with Target, And

805
00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:51,920
Speaker 2: you know, then they just backtrack and make everyone angry.

806
00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:56,719
Speaker 2: But is I feel like there's a fundamental misunderstanding of

807
00:41:57,280 --> 00:41:59,600
Speaker 2: in this case, what it's like to be a transperson,

808
00:41:59,719 --> 00:42:01,440
Speaker 2: and then when they get like a little taste of

809
00:42:01,480 --> 00:42:05,960
Speaker 2: that the company, it's like, oh my god, oh never mind,

810
00:42:06,719 --> 00:42:10,880
Speaker 2: Like they can't even just for that one second, like

811
00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:15,080
Speaker 2: if they get this online hate that the cause, the person,

812
00:42:15,680 --> 00:42:19,200
Speaker 2: the community they're saying they support, gets, they get it,

813
00:42:19,719 --> 00:42:21,480
Speaker 2: and then they're like, never mind, Actually.

814
00:42:21,719 --> 00:42:24,400
Speaker 3: Can they have that privilege, that right.

815
00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:28,600
Speaker 2: That ability to step out and be like, Okay, I

816
00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:31,120
Speaker 2: don't want to deal with this anymore, which I think

817
00:42:31,200 --> 00:42:37,439
Speaker 2: is just very telling of ignorance and just like a oh, sure,

818
00:42:37,480 --> 00:42:39,160
Speaker 2: let's do this, and then they get that hate and

819
00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:40,760
Speaker 2: they're like, oh, oh never mind.

820
00:42:41,280 --> 00:42:43,239
Speaker 3: Yeah, backtracking.

821
00:42:43,360 --> 00:42:46,160
Speaker 4: That Dylan mulvaney thing that you just mentioned, the thing

822
00:42:46,239 --> 00:42:50,480
Speaker 4: that I will never be over is that Dylan mulvany

823
00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:54,640
Speaker 4: when she left social media at the height of all

824
00:42:54,680 --> 00:42:58,239
Speaker 4: of this and came back and made that video, said

825
00:42:58,239 --> 00:43:02,200
Speaker 4: that nobody at bud Light even called her to be like, hey,

826
00:43:02,239 --> 00:43:04,160
Speaker 4: are you all right, Like I'm seeing what's going on.

827
00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:07,640
Speaker 4: I that is something that will stick with me forever.

828
00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:12,880
Speaker 4: That this brand, because she said, happened to say yes

829
00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:16,160
Speaker 4: when asked to do a brand collaboration with bud Light,

830
00:43:16,760 --> 00:43:19,480
Speaker 4: she was had to go dark, had to probably go

831
00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:24,440
Speaker 4: into hiding, like was the target of very severe attacks,

832
00:43:24,920 --> 00:43:27,719
Speaker 4: and that bud Light, the company who came to her

833
00:43:28,040 --> 00:43:30,759
Speaker 4: to bring her into this, couldn't even follow up with

834
00:43:30,800 --> 00:43:33,120
Speaker 4: an email when they saw all of this happening.

835
00:43:33,239 --> 00:43:34,960
Speaker 5: How quickly they abandoned her.

836
00:43:35,400 --> 00:43:37,920
Speaker 4: And I feel like if you are a brand or

837
00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:41,879
Speaker 4: an institution who is working with marginalized people, if you're

838
00:43:41,920 --> 00:43:44,600
Speaker 4: not going to stand by them when this stuff kind

839
00:43:44,600 --> 00:43:48,200
Speaker 4: of stuff happens and when they get into situations that

840
00:43:48,280 --> 00:43:50,360
Speaker 4: really like you have put them in. But by offering

841
00:43:50,400 --> 00:43:53,520
Speaker 4: them this, you know, these partnerships, that's just not how

842
00:43:53,600 --> 00:43:56,160
Speaker 4: you engage people like that. Like, at a certain point,

843
00:43:56,160 --> 00:43:59,600
Speaker 4: it's like, I understand that bud Light is a corporation,

844
00:43:59,680 --> 00:44:02,439
Speaker 4: and I don't expect corporations to like care about any

845
00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:07,319
Speaker 4: of us, certainly not marginalized people, but the people who

846
00:44:07,400 --> 00:44:12,520
Speaker 4: run bud Lights marketing or influencer partnerships should really be

847
00:44:12,560 --> 00:44:14,399
Speaker 4: taking a good, hard look in the mirror, because that's

848
00:44:14,440 --> 00:44:17,200
Speaker 4: just like a failure of like how to be a

849
00:44:17,280 --> 00:44:18,160
Speaker 4: human to each other.

850
00:44:18,360 --> 00:44:20,880
Speaker 5: Like, I like that just sticks with me.

851
00:44:20,920 --> 00:44:23,000
Speaker 4: I could not believe that she said that that nobody

852
00:44:23,040 --> 00:44:24,880
Speaker 4: even ever reached out to her after they just like

853
00:44:24,960 --> 00:44:28,560
Speaker 4: dropped her and never ever followed up again.

854
00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:32,920
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that's going back to your point.

855
00:44:33,400 --> 00:44:35,920
Speaker 2: You know, companies are not big companies, especially you're not

856
00:44:36,440 --> 00:44:39,719
Speaker 2: you're not allies, and we shouldn't think of them that way.

857
00:44:39,760 --> 00:44:40,240
Speaker 1: But they.

858
00:44:41,800 --> 00:44:45,480
Speaker 2: If they posted the black Square, if they take these stands,

859
00:44:45,520 --> 00:44:48,479
Speaker 2: if they say they're going to do something, then yeah,

860
00:44:48,480 --> 00:44:53,120
Speaker 2: they should absolutely be held accountable. That's just backing away

861
00:44:53,320 --> 00:44:55,839
Speaker 2: and causing real harm. We were telling you a.

862
00:44:55,840 --> 00:44:59,640
Speaker 3: Story before we started this out of nowhere.

863
00:44:59,680 --> 00:45:04,280
Speaker 2: Some will bought that up and like making these things

864
00:45:04,360 --> 00:45:09,640
Speaker 2: so politicized that just to have a diversity inclusion person

865
00:45:09,680 --> 00:45:14,879
Speaker 2: at your company becomes oh well, then hate, like all

866
00:45:14,920 --> 00:45:19,279
Speaker 2: of this hate, like you keep saying, it's irresponsible and

867
00:45:19,320 --> 00:45:22,760
Speaker 2: it's not taking into account like the reality of working

868
00:45:22,800 --> 00:45:23,520
Speaker 2: with these groups.

869
00:45:23,640 --> 00:45:26,879
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think that's ultimately what these people want.

870
00:45:27,040 --> 00:45:30,360
Speaker 4: I think that they want just working with a trans

871
00:45:30,400 --> 00:45:33,080
Speaker 4: woman to be a lightning rod.

872
00:45:33,280 --> 00:45:35,640
Speaker 5: She's not saying anything untoward, she's not.

873
00:45:35,680 --> 00:45:39,040
Speaker 4: Doing anything untoward, she just is because her existence is

874
00:45:39,040 --> 00:45:39,719
Speaker 4: a lightning rod.

875
00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:41,520
Speaker 5: Her existence is politicized.

876
00:45:41,760 --> 00:45:45,880
Speaker 4: I think just having a DEI person, just providing a

877
00:45:45,920 --> 00:45:49,200
Speaker 4: grant for black women, they want that to be toxic.

878
00:45:49,360 --> 00:45:51,279
Speaker 4: They want people to know that if you do that,

879
00:45:51,600 --> 00:45:54,640
Speaker 4: you might be in court, you might you know, be

880
00:45:55,280 --> 00:45:58,600
Speaker 4: targeted for a hate campaign, and so to just make

881
00:45:58,640 --> 00:46:01,799
Speaker 4: it not and that anybody would want to risk. And

882
00:46:01,840 --> 00:46:06,640
Speaker 4: these companies are so spineless that they're going along with it.

883
00:46:06,640 --> 00:46:08,920
Speaker 4: It's that they're being held hostage, and they're just like, okay, well,

884
00:46:08,920 --> 00:46:10,680
Speaker 4: they don't want us to.

885
00:46:12,160 --> 00:46:13,200
Speaker 5: Have the chicken sausage.

886
00:46:13,200 --> 00:46:15,440
Speaker 4: They don't want anybody who doesn't eat sausage to be

887
00:46:15,719 --> 00:46:17,120
Speaker 4: bad at our restaurants.

888
00:46:16,719 --> 00:46:17,560
Speaker 5: So okay, we'll drop.

889
00:46:17,640 --> 00:46:20,400
Speaker 4: Actually, Cracker Barrel did stand by their sausage choices, I

890
00:46:20,400 --> 00:46:20,880
Speaker 4: will say that.

891
00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:22,440
Speaker 5: But yeah, I.

892
00:46:23,960 --> 00:46:27,120
Speaker 4: Have been surprised by how these big, huge corporations just

893
00:46:27,239 --> 00:46:30,719
Speaker 4: cowtow to people who are not serious, people who are

894
00:46:30,760 --> 00:46:34,640
Speaker 4: just interested in flexing their power, their political power for

895
00:46:34,680 --> 00:46:35,400
Speaker 4: no real reason.

896
00:46:35,840 --> 00:46:39,520
Speaker 1: I mean absolutely, we see all of these things. Actually

897
00:46:39,600 --> 00:46:43,160
Speaker 1: hurting people. They don't even want to be the face

898
00:46:43,200 --> 00:46:47,320
Speaker 1: of anything. They just want to exist. Funds like Fearless

899
00:46:47,320 --> 00:46:50,319
Speaker 1: fund is to exist and to help and lift up

900
00:46:50,480 --> 00:46:53,160
Speaker 1: people that they know need lifting up. The same thing

901
00:46:53,160 --> 00:46:56,080
Speaker 1: with Target when they had the small businesses with the

902
00:46:56,200 --> 00:47:00,560
Speaker 1: LGBTQ queer content and then taking them off the like,

903
00:47:00,640 --> 00:47:03,840
Speaker 1: we we were just existing and feeling like we wanted

904
00:47:03,840 --> 00:47:06,359
Speaker 1: to be the representation that no one else is willing

905
00:47:06,400 --> 00:47:09,120
Speaker 1: to look at or see or stand behind. And you

906
00:47:09,360 --> 00:47:12,879
Speaker 1: literally came after them, taking away their money, taking away

907
00:47:12,920 --> 00:47:17,480
Speaker 1: their existence, causing harm because again the mulvany thing, she

908
00:47:17,719 --> 00:47:20,799
Speaker 1: was just holding a beer. Yeah, she said, I like

909
00:47:20,880 --> 00:47:23,440
Speaker 1: bud Light. Simple, why can't she choose to do that?

910
00:47:23,480 --> 00:47:25,520
Speaker 1: And that ended up being a thing of like, well,

911
00:47:25,600 --> 00:47:28,080
Speaker 1: she is hurting the beer industry and she is doing

912
00:47:28,120 --> 00:47:33,000
Speaker 1: these things. No, she's just existing with a product that

913
00:47:33,040 --> 00:47:36,080
Speaker 1: they sent her. They're not like giving her fifty percent

914
00:47:36,120 --> 00:47:39,320
Speaker 1: of the shares of bud Light. Like that's what is happening.

915
00:47:39,520 --> 00:47:42,560
Speaker 1: Like this whole level of like what people are having

916
00:47:42,600 --> 00:47:44,359
Speaker 1: to do and they're having to come back and being

917
00:47:44,520 --> 00:47:46,760
Speaker 1: like instead of existing, we have to fight for our

918
00:47:46,840 --> 00:47:51,000
Speaker 1: place to exist. And that's such an absurd ideal, like

919
00:47:51,120 --> 00:48:01,120
Speaker 1: the fact that this has to be done.

920
00:48:03,239 --> 00:48:06,200
Speaker 4: So this is what Tony Morrison says about racism, and

921
00:48:06,239 --> 00:48:07,760
Speaker 4: I think it fits to all of what you're saying.

922
00:48:08,160 --> 00:48:11,520
Speaker 4: The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction.

923
00:48:11,880 --> 00:48:13,880
Speaker 4: It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you

924
00:48:13,960 --> 00:48:17,160
Speaker 4: explaining over and over again your reason for being. Somebody

925
00:48:17,160 --> 00:48:19,239
Speaker 4: says you have no language, and you spend twenty years

926
00:48:19,239 --> 00:48:21,359
Speaker 4: trying to prove that you do. Somebody says your head

927
00:48:21,400 --> 00:48:23,920
Speaker 4: isn't shaped properly, so you have scientists working on the

928
00:48:23,920 --> 00:48:25,640
Speaker 4: fact that it is. Somebody says you have no art,

929
00:48:25,719 --> 00:48:28,160
Speaker 4: so you dredge that up. Somebody says you have no kingdom,

930
00:48:28,239 --> 00:48:30,480
Speaker 4: so you dredge that up. None of this is necessary.

931
00:48:30,520 --> 00:48:33,520
Speaker 4: There will always be one more thing. So like that

932
00:48:33,880 --> 00:48:36,840
Speaker 4: quote really speaks to what I think is happening.

933
00:48:37,239 --> 00:48:38,640
Speaker 5: You know, the Fearless Fund.

934
00:48:38,880 --> 00:48:41,719
Speaker 4: The stats that I just read about black women entrepreneurs

935
00:48:41,719 --> 00:48:42,560
Speaker 4: and how little of.

936
00:48:42,520 --> 00:48:43,880
Speaker 5: The funding we get.

937
00:48:44,320 --> 00:48:47,120
Speaker 4: It shows that the women who are running the Fearless Fund,

938
00:48:47,360 --> 00:48:48,560
Speaker 4: they have work to do.

939
00:48:48,680 --> 00:48:51,080
Speaker 5: They have serious work to do to.

940
00:48:51,200 --> 00:48:54,200
Speaker 4: Right the wrong and to bake a little more equity

941
00:48:54,280 --> 00:48:57,400
Speaker 4: into the funding landscape. So they don't really have time

942
00:48:57,800 --> 00:49:01,319
Speaker 4: to play around with these legal challenges. But yet here

943
00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:04,040
Speaker 4: they are having to spend their money, money that could

944
00:49:04,120 --> 00:49:08,160
Speaker 4: go to the funding landscape, staffing up a legal team,

945
00:49:08,360 --> 00:49:10,279
Speaker 4: holding press conferences.

946
00:49:09,960 --> 00:49:10,520
Speaker 5: All of this.

947
00:49:10,920 --> 00:49:13,799
Speaker 4: It is such a distraction at a time when marginalized

948
00:49:13,800 --> 00:49:17,480
Speaker 4: people have real work to be doing. Fearless fun is

949
00:49:17,680 --> 00:49:18,319
Speaker 4: fighting back.

950
00:49:18,360 --> 00:49:19,040
Speaker 5: They have a.

951
00:49:18,920 --> 00:49:24,480
Speaker 4: Beefy legal team including the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Gibson Dunn, Crutcher,

952
00:49:24,520 --> 00:49:27,560
Speaker 4: and Ben Crump, the attorney who represented families of George

953
00:49:27,560 --> 00:49:30,560
Speaker 4: Floyd and Tyree Nichols in their civil suits over the

954
00:49:30,600 --> 00:49:32,920
Speaker 4: men's killing out the hands of the police. And I

955
00:49:33,000 --> 00:49:34,960
Speaker 4: feel confident like these women are like.

956
00:49:35,080 --> 00:49:38,040
Speaker 5: Bad as women. They are not going down without a fight.

957
00:49:38,560 --> 00:49:41,439
Speaker 4: But also they shouldn't have to, right Like they should

958
00:49:41,480 --> 00:49:44,680
Speaker 4: be able to just do their work and focus on

959
00:49:44,960 --> 00:49:47,840
Speaker 4: that work, and they should not have to be spending

960
00:49:47,880 --> 00:49:51,520
Speaker 4: their money on these bogus legal challenges just because they

961
00:49:51,520 --> 00:49:53,799
Speaker 4: want to exist, just because they want to support other

962
00:49:53,880 --> 00:49:54,440
Speaker 4: black women.

963
00:49:54,600 --> 00:49:57,759
Speaker 1: And I find that again we're in this situation that

964
00:49:58,040 --> 00:49:59,800
Speaker 1: black women are the ones that have to be the

965
00:49:59,840 --> 00:50:02,280
Speaker 1: one to fight like they don't want to. They're tired,

966
00:50:02,320 --> 00:50:04,640
Speaker 1: they've been doing this and now we're back again, because

967
00:50:04,719 --> 00:50:06,560
Speaker 1: we know there's a lot and I know there's a

968
00:50:06,600 --> 00:50:10,560
Speaker 1: lot of fun specifically to women, like point blank women,

969
00:50:10,800 --> 00:50:12,680
Speaker 1: and they surely didn't have to go enough after them.

970
00:50:12,719 --> 00:50:14,480
Speaker 1: And I bet they were denied some of those and

971
00:50:14,520 --> 00:50:17,240
Speaker 1: they're probably better at that. But yet if they didn't,

972
00:50:18,080 --> 00:50:20,480
Speaker 1: that seems silly and that seems very targeted. Yeah, so

973
00:50:20,520 --> 00:50:23,520
Speaker 1: that's very telling. Uh, But like it again, it has

974
00:50:23,560 --> 00:50:25,400
Speaker 1: to be the black women that has to put up

975
00:50:25,400 --> 00:50:28,000
Speaker 1: this fight in order to get anything done.

976
00:50:28,080 --> 00:50:30,239
Speaker 4: I mean, tail as old as time, right, and I

977
00:50:30,239 --> 00:50:33,360
Speaker 4: think right. I'm worried about this for a couple of reasons.

978
00:50:33,400 --> 00:50:36,440
Speaker 4: One is that I think that if these grants and

979
00:50:36,520 --> 00:50:39,640
Speaker 4: funds that specifically are meant to boost black women entrepreneurs

980
00:50:39,719 --> 00:50:43,600
Speaker 4: are deemed unconstitutional, I really don't know what the landscape

981
00:50:43,680 --> 00:50:46,120
Speaker 4: is going to look like because, as I said, like already,

982
00:50:46,520 --> 00:50:48,719
Speaker 4: so little of that funding goes to us in the

983
00:50:48,719 --> 00:50:49,240
Speaker 4: first place.

984
00:50:49,600 --> 00:50:51,719
Speaker 5: But further, one of the reasons I wanted to talk

985
00:50:51,760 --> 00:50:53,200
Speaker 5: about it on the show today is.

986
00:50:53,120 --> 00:50:56,240
Speaker 4: That I don't think it's getting near the same amount

987
00:50:56,280 --> 00:51:00,560
Speaker 4: of traction and attention that Blums affirmative action Chot just did.

988
00:51:01,000 --> 00:51:05,200
Speaker 4: And I really think that we need to see white

989
00:51:05,239 --> 00:51:10,280
Speaker 4: male and white women and really everybody in the startup space.

990
00:51:10,360 --> 00:51:13,640
Speaker 4: We need to see vcs and entrepreneurs speaking up about this,

991
00:51:13,719 --> 00:51:17,600
Speaker 4: because Blum is essentially arguing that the startup space should

992
00:51:17,640 --> 00:51:18,480
Speaker 4: basically just.

993
00:51:18,520 --> 00:51:21,279
Speaker 5: Be for white people. And I think it's up.

994
00:51:21,160 --> 00:51:23,880
Speaker 4: To everybody in the space to push back and say, like,

995
00:51:24,000 --> 00:51:26,000
Speaker 4: that is not the kind of funding space that we want,

996
00:51:26,000 --> 00:51:27,960
Speaker 4: That is not the kind of startup space that we want,

997
00:51:28,239 --> 00:51:31,680
Speaker 4: and to really make that really clear, like what kind

998
00:51:31,680 --> 00:51:33,480
Speaker 4: of a space do we want to have for the

999
00:51:33,480 --> 00:51:36,080
Speaker 4: next generation of entrepreneurs. We want to tell them that

1000
00:51:36,239 --> 00:51:38,319
Speaker 4: the tiny little bit that they that might go to

1001
00:51:38,400 --> 00:51:40,759
Speaker 4: them isn't even for them anymore. I don't I don't

1002
00:51:40,760 --> 00:51:42,280
Speaker 4: think that's the space that we want.

1003
00:51:42,239 --> 00:51:46,640
Speaker 1: Right and absolutely in the same space again, this is

1004
00:51:46,680 --> 00:51:50,120
Speaker 1: gonna hurt white women as well and the like if

1005
00:51:50,160 --> 00:51:54,400
Speaker 1: we're saying that all of this is too specific and

1006
00:51:54,440 --> 00:51:57,120
Speaker 1: it leads out other people of race, it's gonna hurt

1007
00:51:57,160 --> 00:51:59,279
Speaker 1: gender as well. So this is not even just for

1008
00:51:59,320 --> 00:52:01,440
Speaker 1: white people. It's be for white men. We're gonna have

1009
00:52:01,440 --> 00:52:04,759
Speaker 1: more elon musks running running programs into the ground, That's

1010
00:52:04,800 --> 00:52:05,880
Speaker 1: what we're gonna ten.

1011
00:52:05,719 --> 00:52:08,400
Speaker 4: Thousand percent, And I mean kind of like what you

1012
00:52:08,440 --> 00:52:11,880
Speaker 4: were alluding to before time and time again in tech,

1013
00:52:12,560 --> 00:52:17,840
Speaker 4: particularly when black women challenge things or do things or

1014
00:52:17,880 --> 00:52:21,480
Speaker 4: start things, they uplift all women. And so even if

1015
00:52:21,520 --> 00:52:27,000
Speaker 4: that specific program is for black women owned businesses, you're

1016
00:52:27,000 --> 00:52:29,400
Speaker 4: gonna tell me that a black woman who is financially

1017
00:52:29,400 --> 00:52:31,000
Speaker 4: supported is not going to go on to do something

1018
00:52:31,000 --> 00:52:33,319
Speaker 4: that's going to lift up all women and all marginalized people.

1019
00:52:33,719 --> 00:52:35,239
Speaker 4: Time and time again we see that that's how it

1020
00:52:35,280 --> 00:52:37,560
Speaker 4: goes with black women. And so yeah, I just think

1021
00:52:37,560 --> 00:52:39,399
Speaker 4: that this is just this is me smacking that ice

1022
00:52:39,440 --> 00:52:41,080
Speaker 4: cream out of my brother's hand when I could have

1023
00:52:41,080 --> 00:52:42,120
Speaker 4: gotten a bit instead.

1024
00:52:43,840 --> 00:52:46,320
Speaker 1: I mean, we already know that people like to still

1025
00:52:46,360 --> 00:52:49,040
Speaker 1: white women's products because it's that good, So why not

1026
00:52:49,160 --> 00:52:52,040
Speaker 1: let us have it? Like, yeah, we're gonna get the

1027
00:52:52,080 --> 00:52:52,920
Speaker 1: good stop this.

1028
00:52:53,920 --> 00:52:57,160
Speaker 4: So I hope this is something that we I'm gonna

1029
00:52:57,160 --> 00:53:00,000
Speaker 4: be following it. I'll give folks updates as they can,

1030
00:53:00,480 --> 00:53:03,279
Speaker 4: but I really want to see more folks in the

1031
00:53:03,320 --> 00:53:06,919
Speaker 4: space speaking up about this, because what the Fearless Fund

1032
00:53:06,920 --> 00:53:10,120
Speaker 4: has done has been really great, and it's they're really

1033
00:53:10,200 --> 00:53:14,520
Speaker 4: like a good force in the space, and I think

1034
00:53:14,520 --> 00:53:16,840
Speaker 4: the day we need them, frankly we need them.

1035
00:53:17,239 --> 00:53:19,040
Speaker 1: We do, and it's it's a drop in the bucket.

1036
00:53:19,080 --> 00:53:22,239
Speaker 1: Let's just be real honest, like it's it's nothing in

1037
00:53:22,239 --> 00:53:26,320
Speaker 1: comparison to what other people get. Essentially, it is like, wow,

1038
00:53:26,400 --> 00:53:28,960
Speaker 1: you really are going after the little groups for nothing,

1039
00:53:29,160 --> 00:53:31,560
Speaker 1: just just to make a point, and obviously to keep

1040
00:53:31,600 --> 00:53:34,360
Speaker 1: that little bit, as you are saying, in your pocket

1041
00:53:34,719 --> 00:53:37,360
Speaker 1: instead of seeing what this is actually could do for

1042
00:53:37,719 --> 00:53:41,160
Speaker 1: entire humanity. Humanity is lost.

1043
00:53:41,360 --> 00:53:45,360
Speaker 2: I'm sorry what Yeah, yeah, And I mean this is

1044
00:53:45,440 --> 00:53:50,759
Speaker 2: very important too because obviously professional litigant blom here like

1045
00:53:51,520 --> 00:53:54,520
Speaker 2: it's going to keep trying and if this succeeds, then

1046
00:53:55,440 --> 00:53:59,400
Speaker 2: it's gonna make things worse for everyone except for a

1047
00:53:59,440 --> 00:54:03,040
Speaker 2: certain people and then easier for him to win the

1048
00:54:03,040 --> 00:54:05,799
Speaker 2: next thing and the next thing. So yes, this is

1049
00:54:05,800 --> 00:54:09,400
Speaker 2: really really important, and thank you as always Bridget for

1050
00:54:09,400 --> 00:54:10,360
Speaker 2: bringing it to us.

1051
00:54:10,480 --> 00:54:13,719
Speaker 4: Oh thank you for having me. Everyone who is listening

1052
00:54:13,760 --> 00:54:15,680
Speaker 4: should go out and buy stuff. I've never told you

1053
00:54:15,719 --> 00:54:16,080
Speaker 4: the book.

1054
00:54:16,200 --> 00:54:17,840
Speaker 5: I'd just bought it. Let's read it together.

1055
00:54:19,280 --> 00:54:23,680
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, we're hoping to do a little crossover. We'll

1056
00:54:23,719 --> 00:54:28,240
Speaker 2: get to go on your show. Yes, Oh I'm so excited.

1057
00:54:28,760 --> 00:54:31,960
Speaker 2: But in the meantime, Bridget, where can the good listeners

1058
00:54:31,960 --> 00:54:32,520
Speaker 2: find you.

1059
00:54:32,520 --> 00:54:34,640
Speaker 5: You can listen to my podcast. There are no girls

1060
00:54:34,680 --> 00:54:35,200
Speaker 5: on the Internet.

1061
00:54:35,239 --> 00:54:37,560
Speaker 4: You can find me on Instagram at bridget Marie and

1062
00:54:37,640 --> 00:54:39,839
Speaker 4: DC or on Twitter at Bridget Marie and you can

1063
00:54:39,840 --> 00:54:42,040
Speaker 4: find me on TikTok at Bridget makes podcasts.

1064
00:54:42,400 --> 00:54:46,239
Speaker 3: Yes, and we really do. You appreciate your support with

1065
00:54:46,280 --> 00:54:48,719
Speaker 3: the book. We love it so much. Thank you, Thank

1066
00:54:48,800 --> 00:54:50,320
Speaker 3: you having you on as always.

1067
00:54:51,239 --> 00:54:55,080
Speaker 2: Feeling is so mutual, so listeners, if you would like

1068
00:54:55,120 --> 00:54:58,160
Speaker 2: to contact us, you can our emails Stephanie Moomstuff at

1069
00:54:58,200 --> 00:55:00,319
Speaker 2: iHeartMedia dot com. You can find us on at mom

1070
00:55:00,400 --> 00:55:02,360
Speaker 2: Stuff podcast or on Instagram at TikTok at stuff.

1071
00:55:02,400 --> 00:55:03,160
Speaker 3: I never told you.

1072
00:55:03,680 --> 00:55:05,640
Speaker 2: We have a tea public store and we yeah, we

1073
00:55:05,680 --> 00:55:07,720
Speaker 2: have a book forget it stuff.

1074
00:55:07,719 --> 00:55:09,040
Speaker 3: We should read books dot com.

1075
00:55:09,280 --> 00:55:12,240
Speaker 2: Thanks as always to our super producer Christina, our executive

1076
00:55:12,239 --> 00:55:15,440
Speaker 2: producer Maya, and our contributor Joey. Thank you and thanks

1077
00:55:15,440 --> 00:55:17,479
Speaker 2: to you for listening. Steffan Neber Told you is production

1078
00:55:17,520 --> 00:55:19,319
Speaker 2: of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts on my heart Radio,

1079
00:55:19,360 --> 00:55:21,200
Speaker 2: you can check out the heart Radio app Apple Podcasts,

1080
00:55:21,280 --> 00:55:22,960
Speaker 2: or if you listen to your favorite shows,