How Do Corporations’ Claims of Police Brutality Match up With Their Political Donations?
We can never truly know what is in the hearts of corporations and their leaders. Do they mean what they say when they make very beautiful statements about diversity and inclusion and their grief over the death of George Floyd? Or is it empty rhetoric? How can we tell the difference?
Remember, the true heart of a corporation is money, something we can quantify. Specifically – and as journalist Judd Legum recently did in his Newsletter Popular Information – we can quantify how much money these corporations give to legislators who have been scored by the NAACP on their civil rights records, and compare this to their official statements. … The NAACP Civil Rights Report Card , a ranking of how each member of Congress votes on key civil rights issues, has been issued every year since 1914.
For many companies, most notably Amazon, Citigroup and Google, the difference between what they say and how they choose to spend their money is telling. This includes their donations during the current 2020 electoral cycle to members of Congress who have repeatedly voted against civil rights legislation.
Citigroup: $ 242,000 to 74 members of Congress who consistently vote against civil rights legislation.
For example, Citigroup CFO Mark Mason wrote some very good words about being “proud to work at Citi, an organization that values diversity and inclusion and is committed to upholding those values.” He also pledged to make a donation to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and other human rights organizations.
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund will undoubtedly need Mason’s funds as Citigroup donated $ 242,000 during the 2020 election cycle to 74 NAACP F-rated members of Congress . Members must vote with the NAACP less than 59% of the time to receive an ‘F’ rating. The scores for most of Citigroup’s recipients were much, much lower — many in single digits.
This is the many members of Congress who already have a history of voting against civil rights legislation, and this does not mean that Citigroup has made any serious effort to “nurture diversity and inclusion” or “uphold these values”. (Mason’s words, not mine.)
Google: $ 351,000 to 89 members of Congress who consistently vote against civil rights legislation.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai also wrote sincerely : “For those who feel grief, anger, sadness and fear, you are not alone.” However, if you feel grief, anger, sadness and fear over the collective refusal of Congress to do anything meaningful to combat police brutality, then Google will happily keep you feeling lonely: they have donated $ 351,000 to this so far. election season to 89 members of Congress, awarded an “F” rating from the NAACP.
Of the members with poor NAACP grades , the member with the highest score is John Katko-New York, with 31%. The lowest-rated members, George Holding North Carolina and John Ratcliffe Texas, both received a 3% score, still enough for Google to donate $ 8,000 to help them re-elect them in November. On the Senate side, among the bad-graded NAACP members who received Google cash , Susan Collins-ME had the highest score at 28%, while John Barrasso-Wyoming had the lowest score with 3%.
Amazon: $ 389,500 for 127 members of Congress who consistently vote against civil rights legislation.
Amazon released a statement saying it “stands in solidarity with the black community – our employees, customers and partners – in the fight against systemic racism and injustice.” However, this solidarity only seems to exist in the form of beautifully phrased statements, as they donated a lot of money to members of Congress who were under-rated by the NAACP.
Overall , in this electoral cycle alone, Amazon donated $ 389,500 to 127 NAACP-rated members of Congress . This includes many participants with single-digit grades and many others whose grades are barely double-digit. This is a lot of money, and all of it is aimed at helping to re-elect members of Congress with an established track record of actively blocking legislative efforts to end “the fight against systemic racism and injustice.” (Amazon’s words, not mine.)
The statements are good. Money speaks.
Looking for ways to protect black lives? Check out this list of resources .