Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is questioning a taxpayer-funded television service about its diversity fund, which he says discriminates against white filmmakers, violating the Civil Rights Act.
In a letter Cruz sent Carrie Lozano, president and CEO of the Independent Television Service (ITVS), he noted that the service's Diversity Development Fund, a research and development scholarship of up to $35,000, is available only for "directors of color." He argued that the fund should be available to all applicants, regardless of race.
"Because white filmmakers are facially ineligible for this seed money, the fund runs afoul of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. I therefore urge you to remove race as an eligibility criterion for the Diversity Development Fund. ITVS can surely pursue its mandate to 'expand the diversity and innovativeness' of public programming without violating the law," Cruz wrote.
Cruz, the ranking member on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, claimed that the fund was "actively flouting" federal law, since Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits federal dollars from going toward programs or activities that discriminate based on race. He asked ITVS to give full details on how much money had been allocated to the fund, as well as details on who received the fund and their projects.
The senator also said that the fund also skews to the left.
"The ITVS website features an 'Impact' page demonstrating how its documentaries 'inspir[e] audiences to take action' on politically charged issues like criminal justice reform. These documentaries overwhelmingly reflect a liberal worldview," Cruz wrote.
ITVS gets approximately $17 million per year in taxpayer funds from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Jeremy Frankel ✉
Jeremy Frankel is a Newsmax writer reporting on news and politics.
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