White Residents Sue City Over Racially Discriminatory Human Rights Policy

White residents denied an appointment to a city human rights commission are suing Asheville, North Carolina, for racial discrimination.

A picturesque Asheville, N.C., neighborhood in autumn. Rod Gimenez/Dreamstime/TNS

Residents of Asheville, North Carolina, are suing the city in federal court over allegedly unconstitutional racial discrimination at the local human rights board.

The residents argue that the city’s discriminatory treatment runs afoul of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That provision forbids governments from discriminating against people on the basis of their membership in a racial group.