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The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) sent a letter to hundreds of corporations this week, urging them to recommit to protecting democratic and civil rights following a Supreme Court ruling issued late last month that dismantled aspects of the Voting Rights Act.
that many of the businesses receiving the letter had pledged to support the John Lewis Voting Rights Act five years ago, on the first anniversary of the late lawmaker’s passing. At that time, the corporations “spoke clearly…about the importance of protecting democratic participation” and “advancing racial equity,” the CBC said, adding that, “today, those commitments are being tested.”
“For those companies that previously chose to speak, this moment demands courage and consistency. For those that did not, this is a defining opportunity to stand on the right side of history,” the letter from the CBC stated.
Over 250 corporations received the letter from the CBC, around 200 of which had signed the pledge five years prior. Companies that received the letter and had previously promised to support Black voting rights included Facebook, Google, Nestlé USA, Sony Music Group, Tesla, Target, Warby Parker, and others.
The CBC also told the corporations that free and fair elections are not separate from economic stability or corporate success,” and that, “when voting rights are weakened, and entire communities are systematically denied fair representation, the legitimacy and stability of the institutions that underpin our economy are weakened as well.”
through racial gerrymanders, which several states have done or are planning to do in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling. It also asks the corporations to accept an invitation from the CBC to “participate in a national convening alongside civil rights leaders, advocates, and movement organizations to discuss the urgent defense of voting rights and Black political power in America.”
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“Silence is not an option at this moment,” an explainer accompanying the letter stated.
Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-New York), chair of the CBC, also urged corporations to speak up.
“Corporations that have profited from Black consumers, relied on Black workers, and benefited from Black communities cannot remain silent while Black political representation is dismantled in plain sight,” Clarke said. “Silence in this moment is not neutrality — it is complicity.”
The Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais blocked enforcement mechanisms that had been used by lower courts to enforce section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Those courts had required states to redraw congressional boundaries, where it was evident that a racial gerrymander had occurred, to require the addition of Black-majority districts among their House delegations.
After the court ruled those actions to be unlawful — a decision widely panned by many legal critics – several states began redrawing their maps. Tennessee, for example, where one in three residents have voted for Democrats in past statewide races, reduced its nine-member House delegation from having one Democratic district to zero districts, redrawing boundaries to subtract the single Black-majority seat in Nashville.
As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision in Callais, one-third of CBC lawmakers could lose their reelections in this year’s midterm races.
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