For twenty years, Hispanic undergraduates and graduate students have been eligible for free round-trip tickets from Southwest Airlines. A group that a well-known anti-affirmative action activist started has sued the airline, claiming that the program is inherently biased.
If a Hispanic student’s home is more than 200 miles (322 km) away, they are eligible to receive four round-trip tickets. According to Southwest, the initiative has had a positive impact on more than 1,500 youngsters.
Edward Blum is spearheading the American Alliance for Equal Rights, which has now launched a new lawsuit against Southwest Airlines. The lawsuit claims that this program engages in racial discrimination, and so violates federal civil rights legislation.
Blum’s organization sued the airline in a Dallas federal court after it had two students, one Hispanic and the other Caucasian, sign up for the program. They were denied.
To stop Southwest from utilizing its discrimination qualifying criteria, the lawsuit is aiming to get an injunction.
Blum urged Southwest Airlines to ensure that all students, irrespective of race or ethnicity, have equal access to this program in a news release.
After another group he was a part of last year succeeded in convincing the U.S. Supreme Court to prohibit the use of race in college admissions, Blum has been actively involved in initiating multiple lawsuits against business diversity initiatives.
Southwest’s ¡Lánzate! and the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities are at the focus of Monday’s lawsuit.
The initiative allegedly violated a clause in the Civil Rights Act of 1866 that forbids racial bias in contracts. This specific clause, Section 1981, was passed during the Civil War.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids discrimination in government-sponsored programs or activities; the program at issue was said to have violated this provision. The complaint suggests that Southwest may be subject to legal action because of the government subsidies it obtained during the COVID-19 pandemic.
