31 March 2021
The floodgates are open. Almost a week after a bill that curbs voting access in Georgia became law — and nearly one month after it passed the state's House — a slew of corporations have come out against voter suppression.
Why it matters: In an era where businesses are more outspoken (and being pressured to be that way), their silence on this issue had been deafening.
- Flashback: Activists called on Georgia-based companies (Delta, Coca-Cola, Home Depot) to use their political might and put pressure on politicians, to no avail. Then they threatened boycotts.
Driving the news: In an open letter out on Wednesday, over 70 Black executives demanded that corporate America take a stand against legislation that makes it harder to vote, as the New York Times first reported.
What they're saying ... Delta CEO Ed Bastian, in a reversal on Wednesday: "I need to make it crystal clear that the final [Georgia] bill is unacceptable and does not match Delta’s values."
- "Let me get crystal clear and unequivocal. This legislation is unacceptable," Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey told CNBC on Wednesday.
The big question: When corporate action typically comes in the form of a press release, what took so long?
- "When they really started to respond is when they started to get pressure from antagonists. What they should have done is gotten ahead of it," says Paul Argenti, a corporate communications professor at Dartmouth College.
- Argenti says there's a slew of factors that go into when a company decides to speak out and how quickly — like if the issue aligns with corporate strategy.
- "The right to vote? This is an easy one," Argenti says.
Go deeper ... Track all the CEO statements here.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.