On Thursday March 25, Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia passed sweeping legislation that significantly limits his constituents’ access to voting. The law most significantly impacts voters who already face barriers to reaching the polls — and who are also disproportionately Black, Indigenous and People of Color. Park Cannon, a member of the Georgia House of Representatives who was concerned about the legislation and the Governor’s closed-door actions, was handcuffed and arrested for knocking on Governor Kemp’s door during the signing.
On Friday, Delta CEO Ed Bastion released a brief statement highlighting the company’s involvement in conversations around the Georgia legislation, and painting the law in a positive light, despite acknowledging ongoing concerns.
Last Wednesday, 72 Black executives and business leaders signed a letter and spoke out against the Georgia bill, calling on their fellow corporate leaders to take a stand against voter suppression.
Where were the white executives? Ed Bastian, for one, distributed a memo to Delta employees that same day revising his and Delta’s stance on the bill, declaring it “unacceptable.” He shared that he arrived at this conclusion after taking more time to understand the bill and speak with Black leaders and employees. It was, of course, too late to change the outcome in Georgia.
On Friday, Major League Baseball announced its atypically political decision to pull the All-Star game from Atlanta. Since then, numerous conservative lawmakers (including Mitch McConnell, who has historically supported corporate lobbying in politics) have taken aim at MLB, Delta, Coca Cola and other corporations whose leaders spoke or took action against the bill, admonishing them for “economic blackmail” and threatening “serious consequences.” The Georgia House has already voted to repeal a tax break previously granted to Delta.
Of course, on January 6 of this year, a violent mob organized by white supremacist groups stormed our nation’s capital in an attempted coup. They were inspired by the “Big Lie” that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election but was cheated from office due to rampant voter fraud in an insecure election. Every piece of this lie has been thoroughly debunked.
Last month, lawyers defending Sidney Powell (a former Trump attorney) in a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems — which Powell claimed was at fault for the “stolen” election — testified that, “No reasonable person would conclude that [Powell’s claims of election fraud] were truly statements of fact.”
At the same time: 43 states are currently considering voter suppression legislation, and those legislators advocating for these measures consistently cite disproved misinformation about election security associated with the “Big Lie.”
Two years ago, I wrote an Inclusion Solution Post exploring the difference between compromise and common ground, in response to Tayari Jones’ essay “There’s Nothing Virtuous About Finding Common Ground” published in TIME Magazine. My mind went straight to Jones’ piece this week when I read a quote from Kenneth Chenault, a former chief executive at American Express who has been instrumental in organizing Black executives against voter suppression: “There is no middle ground here. You either are for more people voting, or you want to suppress the vote.”
It is critical to acknowledge that, as is the case with so many systems, this one was never broken; it was built this way. As Historian Heather Cox Richardson succinctly analyzed in her April 1 “Letters From An American” newsletter, historic efforts to disenfranchise Black voters in this country were rampant, and largely successful:
In the late nineteenth century, southern lawmakers’ calculation that business would support voter suppression efforts would have been accurate…Not only is 2021 more openly multicultural than the 1890s, when the previous avalanche of voter suppression kept poor people of all races and ethnicities from the polls, but also the people who approve of racial equality have way more economic power than they did a century or more ago.
The reaction of today’s business leaders to new voter suppression measures suggests that the old equation in which businessmen want to get rid of Black and poor voters is no longer so clear. While businesses undoubtedly like preferential treatment, they now answer to a broader constituency than they did a century or more ago, and that constituency does not necessarily support voter suppression.
In the midst of the most polarizing year to date in American politics, we saw a substantial portion of the electorate buy into disinformation, fueling distrust of the government and electoral system. We also saw tens of millions of Americans take to the streets to protest persistent racist inequities and injustices. While these trends have each been incredible in their own way, it is absurd to give them equal weight in determining how to respond in this moment. One trend is based in new understanding and momentum surrounding the need to dismantle a deep-seated and disturbing reality, and another is, in no uncertain terms, based in conspiracy theories and misinformation. While the lawmakers doubling down on these lies and threats are betting that their efforts will pay off, it is critical that corporate America not be bullied into submission by insults or rescinded tax breaks.
While the lawmakers doubling down on these lies and threats are betting that their voter suppression efforts will pay off, it is critical that corporate America not be bullied into submission by insults or rescinded tax breaks. Click To TweetThe corporate leaders who spoke out against voter suppression this month do not deserve pats on the back. They spoke out too late, and failed to listen to Black legislators, activists and community members who have been speaking, writing and campaigning about voter suppression for decades. The question should not be if these few corporations were right to speak out, it must be: where are the others? Like it or not, corporate America has tremendous influence over public policy and public opinion, and they have the chance to stand for fundamental rights of Americans as they face threats in 43 states. Our democracy is at stake, and recent events have proven that those willing to threaten it will stop at almost nothing to maintain their power. “There is no middle ground here. You either are for more people voting, or you want to suppress the vote.”
Corporate leaders who spoke out against voter suppression this month do not deserve pats on the back. They spoke out too late, and failed to listen to Black activists who have been speaking and campaigning about voter suppression… Click To Tweet The question should not be if these few corporations were right to speak out, it must be: where are the others? Click To TweetA phrase from a video we sometimes close our sessions with comes to mind — wisdom from the brilliant Maya Angelou: “You know what’s right. Just do right. The truth is right may not be expedient. It may not be profitable… but it will satisfy your soul. You make your own choices. Pick up the battle and make it a better world. It can be better, and it must be better, but it is up to us.”
