As Pacific Legal Foundation goes to bat for people fighting discrimination, attorney Andrew Quinio makes note of the case involving Lance Nistler, a white farmer in Minnesota who filed a federal lawsuit over his state's grant program to help farmers buy farmland.
AFN previously reported that the problem was the program prioritized so-called "emerging farmers," specifically racial minorities, women, and young, urban, LGBTQIA+ individuals.
Five months after Nistler filed the lawsuit, Governor Tim Walz (D) signed legislation removing the race and sex prioritization from the program's language.
Still, Quinio asserts, "This is not just happening in Minnesota; it's happening all across the United States and at all levels of government."
San Diego, for example, has a first-time homebuyer program for people in the black, indigenous, persons of color (BIPOC) communities.
"If you don't fit those categories, you don't get … down payment assistance and mortgage assistance," the attorney summarizes.
And even after winning a case last year in Massachusetts for a white business owner who could not apply for recovery grants after COVID, Quinio says Worcester, Massachusetts still "has a very similar grant program that is only for minority and women-owned businesses."
Pacific Legal Foundation does not currently have a case in Worcester, but Quinio insists that "people have to be aware of their rights, and they've got to be cognizant of the fact that the government might not be treating them equally."
