Democrat-Led North Carolina Town Expands Race and Gender-Based Hurricane Relief Prioritization

A Democrat-controlled town in North Carolina is doubling down on its controversial policy of distributing hurricane relief based on race and gender, despite legal complaints accusing officials of blatant discrimination.

Asheville, a city in western North Carolina that suffered significant damage from Hurricane Helene, released its 2024 Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery action plan, confirming that its Small Business Support Program will prioritize assistance for minority- and women-owned businesses.

This comes after a January complaint filed with the Treasury Department by the Western North Carolina Citizens for Equality, which alleged that Buncombe County’s hurricane relief program was designed to discriminate against white business owners.

• The County Board of Commissioners, controlled by Democrats, launched a relief program in November 2023 that focused aid on BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and women-owned businesses.

• A report revealed that nearly 90% of the county is white, yet 28.5% of grants went to minority-owned businesses and 60.6% to women-owned businesses.

• The program was administered by Mountain BizWorks, a non-profit that used federal COVID-19 relief funds to hand out aid based on race and sex.

The January complaint argued that these actions are clearly illegal, as they violate federal anti-discrimination laws by favoring applicants solely based on skin color and gender rather than actual hurricane-related losses.

Despite this, Asheville has expanded its identity-based relief programs in its new March action plan. In addition to prioritizing small business aid for certain groups, the city is pushing new race- and income-based housing initiatives:

• At least 70% of recovery funds must go toward low- to moderate-income (LMI) objectives, regardless of actual hurricane damage.

• A multi-family housing fund mandates that 80% of units be occupied by households earning 80% or less of the area’s median income.

• Infrastructure projects will prioritize communities based on LMI status, furthering the county’s focus on race- and income-based redistribution.

Buncombe County’s discriminatory practices have sparked outrage among local residents, who have called on the Trump administration to intervene. Federal officials must decide whether to hold Asheville accountable or allow Democrat-run cities to continue using natural disasters as an excuse to push leftist social engineering.

For Democrats, everything is about identity politics even hurricane relief. Instead of helping those most affected by disaster, Asheville’s leaders are choosing winners and losers based on race and gender.

America deserves equal treatment under the law, not discrimination disguised as "equity."

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