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As Black Lives Matter protesters took to the streets last summer, many large businesses across the country expressed solidarity and pledged to support racial justice. But now, with lawmakers across the country pushing restrictive voting rights bills that would disproportionately impact black voters, American businesses have gone silent.
Last week, as Republicans in Georgia rushed to pass sweeping law restricting voter access, Atlanta’s biggest companies, including Delta, Coca-Cola and Home Depot, declined to participate, offering only a broad support for voting rights. The muted response – from companies that pledged last year to support social justice – has infuriated activists, who are now calling for a boycott.
“We’re all frustrated with these companies claiming to be alongside the black community on racial justice and racial equality,” said LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter. “It shows that they lack a real commitment to racial equity. They are complicit in their silence.
On Thursday, hours after voting restrictions were signed in Georgia, Ms Brown joined protesters at the Atlanta airport to call for a boycott of Delta, Georgia’s largest employer. Outside the Delta terminal, they lobbied employees to put pressure on their employer and urged the airline’s general manager, Ed Bastian, to use his influence to influence the debate.
Delta is a large corporate supporter of the gay community and was one of many large corporations that said last year it stood with the black community following George Floyd’s death at the hands of the police. At the time, Delta said it would look for ways “to make an impact and take a stand against racism and injustice, from programs to policy changes.”
But last week, Delta declined to comment on Georgian law in particular, instead issuing a statement on the need for broad voter participation and equal access to the polls.
“It’s a double standard,” Ms. Brown said.
Coca-Cola, another major Atlanta employer, faced similar pressures as the new law took shape. Last summer, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey said the company would “invest our resources to advance social justice causes” and “use the voices of our brands to influence social conversations. important ”.
But last week, rather than taking a position on the then-pending legislation, Coca-Cola said it was aligned with local chambers of commerce, which diplomatically called on lawmakers to maximize voter turnout while avoiding criticism. sharp.
It smacked of hypocrisy for Bishop Reginald Jackson of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, who spoke at a rally outside the Georgia Capitol on Thursday. Speaking into a megaphone, Mr Jackson cited Mr Quincey’s statements from last summer as a point of contrast to the company’s lukewarm commitment to the legislation.
“We took him at his word,” Mr. Jackson said. “Now when they try to get this racist legislation passed, we can’t make him say anything. And our position is that if you can’t stay with us now, you don’t need our money, you don’t need our support.
Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, a black pastor who was elected in January, called out businesses for their muted responses in an interview with CNN on Sunday.
“I have seen these companies fall on their own every year around King’s Day celebrating Dr King,” said Senator Warnock. “The way to celebrate Dr. King is to stand up for what he stood for: the right to vote.”
Corporate America’s cautious approach to the partisan issue of voting rights contrasts sharply with its engagement in other social and political issues in recent years. When legislatures advanced “toilet bills” that allegedly discriminated against transgender people, many large corporations threatened to withdraw from states like Indiana, Georgia and Texas.
And over the past four years, many large corporations have spoken out against President Donald J. Trump on issues such as climate change, immigration and white supremacy.
“It’s not like companies don’t want to speak forcefully about social justice issues,” said Sherrilyn Ifill, President and CEO of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. “It seems perfectly legitimate to me for Black voters in Georgia expect them to speak equally powerfully and directly about what constitutes an unwarranted attack on the ability of black voters to participate in the political process.
In recent weeks, only a few consistently progressive companies have publicly tackled the new laws head-on.
“A person’s right to vote is the foundation of our democracy,” Salesforce said on Twitter. Criticizing an early version of the Georgia bill, he added: “Georgia HB 531 would limit reliable, safe and equal access to voting by limiting early voting and eliminating provisional ballots. This is why Salesforce opposes HB 531 as is. “
Patagonia, which has worked to increase voter turnout, condemned the new bills and called on other businesses to get more involved.
“Our democracy is under attack by a new wave of Jim Crow bills that seek to restrict the right to vote,” Ryan Gellert, CEO of Patagonia, said in a statement. “There is an urgent need for businesses across the country to take a stand – and use their brands as a force for good in support of our democracy.
These were the exceptions. For the most part, large companies refused to comment on Georgian legislation as it was put in place. Even CEOs who have made a name for themselves championing diversity have chosen not to get involved. Tim Ryan, senior partner at PwC and founder of CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, declined to comment for this article.
“The voice of individual leaders is strangely muffled,” said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management who regularly brings CEOs together to talk about controversial issues. “For the most part, they are not yet taking the same courageous positions they have taken on the count and the results of this fall’s election, let alone immigration, gun safety and the infamous toilet bills. “
After four years of responding to the often extreme policies of the Trump administration, many companies are seeking to stay away from political battles.
And ballot bills are driven by mainstream Republican lawmakers, rather than lesser-known right-wing figures. Companies that take a stand may find it more difficult to win the favor of these lawmakers on other issues to come.
“It’s not the fringe members trying to put pressure on toilet bills,” said Lauren Groh-Wargo, executive director of Fair Fight, a voter rights group founded by Stacey Abrams. “It is a priority for the party at the national level. For businesses, speaking out and working against these bills is very different. “
Ms Ifill, of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said another factor was also at play: race. “Why do companies that could speak so powerfully and unequivocally against discrimination against the LGBTQ community and immigrants not speak so clearly about denial of black suffrage?” she says. “It’s the same thing. It’s a race issue.”
Businesses have already reduced their bills at the state level. In 2016, as lawmakers pushed forward the toilet bills, large companies said they would move jobs out of states that had adopted such measures. Responding to one of those bills in Georgia in 2016, the Walt Disney Company said, “We plan to move our business elsewhere if legislation allowing discriminatory practices is enshrined in state law.”
The tactics were effective. Many of these bills were introduced as lawmakers responded to threats of business loss.
This time around, however, the entertainment industry has taken a more cautious approach.
When asked for comment, Disney, Netflix, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Entertainment and ViacomCBS said they had no public comments or did not respond to questions. The Motion Picture Association, Hollywood’s lobbying organization, declined to comment, as did Amazon Studios, which released “All In: The Fight for Democracy,” a documentary about Ms. Abrams’ efforts six months ago. and other activists to break down electoral barriers in Georgia and elsewhere.
The fight in Georgia is probably a preview of things to come. Lawmakers in dozens of states have proposed similar voting bills, and activists plan to step up pressure on U.S. businesses as the battle for voting rights becomes national.
Businesses, on the other hand, try to maintain a delicate balance. Although Georgia’s law passed on Thursday is less stringent than the one originally proposed, it introduced stricter voter identification requirements for absentee voting, limited drop boxes, and expanded the power of the state legislature over the elections.
After its passage, Delta and Coca-Cola appeared to take credit for helping ease restrictions on the bill. Delta said it had “engaged extensively with elected officials in the state” in recent weeks and that “the legislation signed this week has improved significantly over the course of the legislative process.”
Coca-Cola issued a similar statement, saying it had “sought improvements” in the law and that it “would continue to identify opportunities for engagement and strive to make improvements to promote and protect the right to vote in our country of origin and elsewhere ”.
These words were a cold comfort to activists who had worked against efforts to restrict voters’ rights.
“They made sweet statements rather than going out,” said Ms. Groh-Wargo of Fair Fight. “It’s ridiculous.”
Brooks barnes and Nicole Craine contribution to reports.
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