Groups blast conservatives' attempt to stop Smithsonian Latino internship
Source: NBC News
March 18, 2024, 6:48 PM EDT
Latino organizations and national civil rights groups blasted a lawsuit filed by conservative legal activist Edward Blum to end a Smithsonian Institution internship designed to draw more Latinos into museum studies and jobs.
The groups say in a friend of the court, or amicus, brief that the selection criteria for the internship do not include race or ethnicity and that application materials do not limit entry to any race or ethnicity.
The selection process is entirely race- and ethnicity-neutral, the groups say in the brief. The groups oppose Blum's request for a preliminary injunction suspending the internship program. A hearing is set for April 8.
Blum, president of the American Alliance for Equal Rights, sued the director of the yet-to-be-built American Museum of the National Latino last month. He has alleged the program is unconstitutional because it is “not equally open to non-Latinos.” Blum won the legal case that effectively ended affirmative action. Blum did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/groups-blast-conservatives-attempt-stop-smithsonian-latino-internship-rcna143974
