Earlier this week, Do No Harm submitted an official comment to the IRS on the proposed rule “Racial Nondiscrimination in Private Schools.”
We strongly support this codification of the longstanding requirement that a private school must maintain a racially nondiscriminatory policy in order to qualify for tax exemption.
Our reasons for submitting the comment are these. First, we explain why a school’s asserted good intentions should not excuse race-based discrimination. A student denied an educational opportunity because of his or her race or the race of other applicants suffers the same injury regardless of whether the school calls its discriminatory policy “benign” or “remedial.”
Second, we write in support of applying this principle to private schools claiming tax exemption. A school engaging in racial discrimination should not be able to preserve federal tax benefits (in the form of tax-exempt status) simply because it does not receive federal financial assistance in the form of actual payments.
Finally, we recommend that the IRS guard against the use of facially neutral criteria as disguised racial preferences. The Supreme Court addressed that danger directly in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard: Universities may not use application essays or other means to recreate the admissions regime the Court held unlawful. A student’s experience may be considered for what it reveals about that individual’s qualities — not as a device for awarding a preference based on race.
Do No Harm commends the Treasury Department and the IRS for a rule that equips the government to flag and eliminate racial discrimination in private education, regardless of the purpose offered to justify it.
Please read our full comment here or below.
