Famous actor Wendell Pierce revealed in a tweet that a white landlord recently denied him the right to rent an apartment in Harlem, even though he met all the requirements.
Pierce, 60, shared the anecdote after speaking out against a federal appeals court panel he called a “MAGA scheme” suspending a venture capital firm’s grant program for women Black business owners.
The court found that a conservative group that files a lawsuit against the Fearless Fund, alleging discrimination, will likely succeed.
“Racism and bigots are real. There are those who will do anything to destroy the life course of black people. When you deny our personal experiences, you are just as vile and despicable,” The Wire star wrote.
“For those of you who do not understand my righteous anger; I am on 2 TV series, ELSBETH and RAISING KANAN. I’m filming SUPERMAN. Two years ago, I finished the fourth season of JACK RYAN. Last year I completed a Broadway appearance in DEATH OF A SALESMAN.
Wendell Pierce shared his experience following a recent court ruling that forced the Fearless Fund to end a program benefiting Black women.
Pierce, 60, listed some of his credits as he described how he was denied an apartment rental application
Pierce engaged in his full-throated rant on X on Monday
The actor also discussed what he considers to be similarly dark moments in black history, including the burning of Black Wall Street in Tulsa.
“Even with my proof of employment, bank statements, and real estate, a white apartment owner DENIED my application to rent the apartment…in Harlem, of all places. Racism and bigots are real.
“There are those who will do anything to destroy the life course of black people. When you deny our personal experiences, you are just as vile and despicable,” Pierce continued.
The ruling against the Atlanta-based Fearless Fund is another victory for conservative groups waging a broad legal battle against corporate diversity programs that have targeted dozens of companies and government institutions.
The case against the Fearless Fund was brought last year by the American Alliance for Equal Rights, a group led by Edward Blum, the conservative activist behind the Supreme Court lawsuit that ended discrimination positive when it comes to university admissions.
Blum applauded the decision, saying “programs that exclude some people based on race, like those the Fearless Fund designed and implemented, are unfair and polarizing.”
Pierce took the court’s decision with enthusiasm.
“Private investment in Black businesses is blocked by laws in place to prevent discrimination against Black businesses. Racist irony. The racist, bigoted, fascist Americans who burned down Black Wall Street in Tulsa 100 years ago are still alive and well,” he continued.
The actor then mocked the conservatives’ claimed philosophy of removing government from the daily lives of civilians.
Fearless Fund co-founders and CEOs Arian Simone, center left, and Ayana Parsons, center right, speak to reporters outside Miami federal court.
Anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum defended the lawsuit that ended Fearless Future’s program
Pierce was one of the stars of HBO’s groundbreaking series The Wire, featured here in an iconic scene with the late Michael K. Williams.
“The GOP, right-wing and MAGA agenda makes it clear that their vision of America does not include black people enjoying the same rights guaranteed by the constitution,” he said.
“In their America, we are even allowed to exercise our right to self-determination and create businesses with the intention of destroying them.”
“It makes me fucking sick to see how far you will go to destroy our ability to live our lives in peace and prosperity.”
“Attacked at schools, attacked by police, attacked because he expected to live the stated values of this country, and attacked when he was successful in business,” he said.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. For generations we have embraced this lie, while the violence against our community proves otherwise. It is increasingly difficult to remain in denial. America,” Pierce added.
Justice Robin Rosenbaum, an Obama appointee, disagreed with the court’s decision in a scathing dissent, comparing the plaintiffs’ claims of harm to football players trying to win by “collapsing on the field, feigning injury.” .
Rosenbaum said none of the plaintiffs demonstrated they had any real intent to apply for grants in what she called “broadcast statements” that were “eliminatory and devoid of substance.”
Justice Robin Rosenbaum, an Obama appointee, disagreed with the court’s decision in a scathing dissent.
Arian Simone, CEO and founder of the Fearless Fund, said the decision was “devastating” for the organizations and women they invested in.
“The message these justices sent today is that diversity in corporate America, in education or anywhere else should not exist,” she said in a statement. “These judges bought what a small group of white men were selling.”
Alphonso David, legal counsel for Fearless Fund and president and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum, said all options are being evaluated to continue fighting the lawsuit.
The legal effort to dismantle workplace diversity programs has also suffered its share of setbacks, reflecting the polarized views among liberal and conservative justices on the issue.
Last week, for example, a federal district judge in Ohio dismissed a lawsuit against insurance company Progressive and financial technology platform Hello Alice, challenging a program offering grants to help small, publicly-owned businesses. Blacks to purchase commercial vehicles.
Similar lawsuits have been dismissed against Amazon, Pfizer and Starbucks.
In a 2-1 ruling, the panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Miami found that Blum had a strong chance of prevailing in his lawsuit, saying the subsidy program violated Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which prohibits discrimination in the labor market. basis of race when executing contracts.
The Reconstruction-era law was originally intended to protect formally enslaved people from economic exclusion, but anti-affirmative action activists exploited it to challenge programs intended to benefit minority-owned businesses .
The appeals court, made up of two judges appointed by former President Donald Trump and a judge appointed by former President Barack Obama, rejected the Fearless Fund’s arguments that the grants are not contracts but charitable donations protected by the First Amendment right to free speech.
“The fact remains that Fearless simply — and categorically — refuses to accept applications from business owners who are not ‘black women,’” the court’s majority opinion said, adding that “any act “racial discrimination” would be considered expressive conduct under the law. the Fearless Fund’s argument.
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