Black CEOs have joined the chorus of voices calling for corporate condemnation of the new Georgia law that curbs voting opportunities, and at least one major company has received the message.
On Wednesday, Delta CEO Ed Bastian wrote to employees, “I need to make it crystal clear that the final bill is unacceptable and does not match Delta’s values.”
Delta, among the largest employers in Georgia, was criticized last week for a tepid response to the bill’s passage. The New York Times explains:
Mr. Bastian’s position is a stark reversal from last week. As Republican lawmakers in Georgia rushed to pass the new law, Delta, along with other big companies headquartered in Atlanta, came under pressure from activists to publicly and directly oppose the effort. Activists called for boycotts, and protested at the Delta terminal at the Atlanta airport.
Instead, Delta chose to offer general statements in support of voting rights, and work behind the scenes to try and remove some of the most onerous provisions as the new law came together. After the law was passed on Thursday, Mr. Bastian said he believed it had been improved and included several useful changes that make voting more secure.
On Wednesday morning, Ken Chenault, who became one of the first Black men to lead a Fortune 500 company when he was CEO of American Express, said on CNBC, “Corporations have to stand up. There is no middle ground. This is about all Americans having the right to vote, but we need to recognize the special history of the denial of the right to vote for Black Americans, and we will not be silent.”
Ken Frazier, the CEO of pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co., told CNBC that companies shouldn’t be afraid of turning away customer by taking a stand against the new Georgia law and similar proposals winding through state legislatures across the country. “Free and fair access to the ballot was never a partisan issue. It’s a fundamental constitutional right,” he said.
Meanwhile, L.A. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who is this year’s National League manager of the MLB All-Star Game, said he’d consider skipping the event if it’s not moved out of Georgia.
Voting rights activists have threatened to boycott Georgia-based companies, including Coca-Cola, that don’t oppose the controversial law. It’s a warning shot to other state legislatures – if you curb voting rights, there may be economic consequences.