Last fall, major companies committed to the social justice movement. We wrote a blurb about it in an earlier post. Last year, communities across the country spent months protesting for equality and social justice. Companies such as Coca-Cola, Hilton, Nike, and others made statements insisting that the fight for social justice and equality was not just a moment, but a movement. They pledged enough was enough and to do more for African-Americans in terms of hiring, diversity and inclusion, and supporting programs which ends systemic racism and enriches black people and communities.
Unfortunately, many of these companies continue to remain silent and keep their money in their pockets. Their pledges for change have lapsed into silent consent of the continued practices and programs which harm African-American people. Their financial donations are a mere drop in the bucket compared to the dollars black people spend on their merchandise and services. For example, Hilton Hotels had many incidents of discrimination against black people and black families at their hotels. Out of a budget of more than $207 million dollars, Hilton Hotels only spent $5 million in 2020 on their Equity Fund to support Black-led organizations.
Amazon told its employees their leadership teams were reflecting on the systemic racism facing black communities. Bezos cancelled his Friday Juneteenth meetings and wanted black Amazon employees to do the same. Amazon’s black employees are warehouse workers. They can barely take a bathroom break without repercussions much less take Juneteenth off as an unpaid holiday. Eight months later, black employees are still reporting systemic issues affecting them at Amazon. According to their website, Amazon managers are majority white males.
Nike committed to spend $40 million in the next four years to fight systemic racism. Considering how much black society love and support the Nike brand, that amount over 4 years seems paltry. However, Nike, Inc. along with the $100 million investment from Converse, Michael Jordan, and the Jordan Brand, together pledged a total of $140 million over 10 years to invest and support programs for Black Americans. Coca-Cola issued a statement going back to the Rodney King incident in recognizing how corporate America and the Coca-Cola Company itself can do more to end systemic racism. Unfortunately, their words do not match their actions and their capital. They’ve only invested $2.5 million and are silent on the efforts to overhaul Georgia’s voting laws.
The fight for social justice and equality is not new. Black society has to continue to push corporate America to enact change to support black people and our communities. We cannot continue to give our dollars and allow major corporations to remain silent against systemic racism. Blacks have to continue to fight for diversity in corporate ranks and inclusion in their decision making processes.