A reparations plan that Buncombe County, North Carolina, is currently considering violates federal law, according to Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon.
Dhillon last week warned the county in a letter that the $2.9 million idea, which is scheduled for a vote Tuesday, could bring legal consequences for the county.
“After our initial review, we are deeply concerned that many of the recommendations, if implemented, would violate federal civil rights laws, including, without limitation, the Fair Housing Act, Title VI, Title VII, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” the September 4th letter stated.
“My office will be closely monitoring your actions,” the letter continued. “To the extent these recommendations are formally adopted, you are now on notice that my office stands ready to investigate and enforce violations of federal civil rights laws to the fullest extent possible.”
Dhillon told Newsmax on Monday that when she grew up in rural North Carolina in the 1970s, there was a lot of discrimination. However, the remedy that the county is proposing is “ridiculous and tone deaf.”
“I grew up in rural North Carolina. In the 1970s, there were definitely the vestiges of discrimination there. I saw it with my own two eyes. It's 50 years later now, and this is totally ridiculous and tone deaf. And so we're going to put a stop to it here. And by the way, every other city and county trying to be cute and pass rules like this, you're on notice that we'll come after you, too,” Dhillon said, adding that the package has “38 different ways in which they intend to violate the federal civil rights laws.”
“Under our federal civil rights laws, it's 2025 here in America. This is all illegal. It will cause litigation and it will cause damages to be paid by this particular jurisdiction if they decide to proceed,” Dhillon said.
However, the county has apparently “retrenched” from their earlier position.
“Since they got my letter...they've retrenched a little bit and said, ‘[W]ell, maybe we could have phrased things a little more diplomatically.’ I'm glad they were pretty plain and blunt about what they wanted to do. We need more of that, because citizens deserve transparency into how their dollars are being spent,” Dhillon said.
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