The Commerce Department will no longer police 'disparate impact' discrimination

The Commerce Department has changed its rules for enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. It will no longer consider whether policies have an unequal effect on different groups, only whether there was intentional discrimination.

For decades, federal agencies could challenge policies that unintentionally harmed minority groups, even if the harm was not deliberate. This change means the Commerce Department will only act if it can prove someone intended to discriminate. This makes it much harder to challenge many forms of systemic inequality.