General Motors has announced it will donate $10 million to “support organizations that promote inclusion and racial justice,” including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
GM says $1 million of the $10 million it plans to donate will benefit the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which is described as “America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice.” The LDF looks to enact structural changes through way of litigation, advocacy and public education and also “defends the gains and protections won over the past 75 years of civil rights struggle, and works to improve the quality and diversity of judicial and executive appointments.”
The remaining $9 million will be given to recipients that are yet to be determined. The automaker will decide which groups and organizations receive donations using input from its various Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and the recently announced GM Inclusion Advisory Board (IAB).
“Through today’s donations, GM is taking action in helping root out intolerance – and that means racism, bigotry, discrimination and any other form of hatred,” GM CEO Mary Barra said in a prepared statement released Friday. “We want to be part of meaningful, deliberate change and we will not allow ourselves the passivity of urging others to act. We are taking action.”
Additionally, GM has put a program in place in which it will open up the door for employees to donate to various organizations promoting equality and will match those employee contributions. Funds for the matching of employee contributions will also come from the $10 million in funding it has set aside.
Earlier this week, Barra sent a letter to employees addressing the recent protests against racism and police brutality in the United States and abroad. In it, she announced the automaker will set up an Inclusion Advisory Board to promote inclusion and racial justice within the company. Barra will serve as the chair of the new advisory board.
GM CEO Mary Barra meets with workers in 2019
“My personal commitment is to ensure that the leadership of General Motors, and by extension, the entire GM family, consistently remains aware of our responsibility to bring awareness to injustice,” Barra said in the letter. “Because awareness leads to dialogue … dialogue leads to understanding… and understanding leads to change.”
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Comments
Soooo….they can spare $10 mil to donate to a made up cause, yet they cant spend the extra money to produce cars here in America? Or Keep the Impala around? Or offer longer warranties? Or put another engine in the XT6? Or advertise lesser known models (CT6, Bolt, Volt, Regal, Acadia, XT4, Colorado Diesel).
I had a similar thought. GM has $10 million to give away but didn’t I read a few weeks ago that GM’s white collar employees aren’t getting paid due to COVID-19; their salaries are being deferred if I recall correctly until things return to normal. I make no comment on the cause Mary Barra has elected to support but rather think their employees should get paid for their work before she starts giving money away to an entity of her choosing. Mary Barra makes $23 million a year. If she supports this cause, the $10 million should come from her pocket, not from the company. Either way, ultimately GM customers will be the ones paying this but I think it more appropriate if she spend her money. I have never thought companies should take stances on social or political issues of the day and use their customers’ money to promote the agenda of the CEO or leadership team. It’s just dumb and every company that does it risks alienating their customers.
The statement should read: GM announces their staff will immediately receive all earned but previously withheld compensation and Mary Barra will personally donate $10 million to organizations that promote racial justice.
What is most important, keeping real people who happen to be black, breathing and not be murdered by some person who believes in slavery or white superiority to the point that murder is absolutely OK, (along with abuse and torture), or having cars, “…to produce cars here in America?” Henry. You show by your statements where you stand. You are free to speak your opinion as you just did. Your opinion just adds to the overall message by those who’s job it is to “hate” that Whites are superior; that the black cause be damned, and that the world is fine, just as I can shop for an, “…Impala, kept around. It’s time that you like others with the same thoughts open your thinking. American cannot lead internally nor from anywhere else until we can show socially that we are the greatest country in the world where, “…inalienable rights apply across the board.” AF
This is for public relations. They care about selling cars and making money……thats it.
More virtue-signaling to keep the pressure groups at bay.
Grizzly you win the prize.
Payments like this have been documented as being pay offs to make these groups go away.
If not paid these groups turn to the media and social media to frame them as racist companies and drag it all out doing a lot of PR damage.
Much of what is being said by companies and celebrities are statements under duress. If you don’t go along with the media or the organizations they will destroy you,
It is the modern way to stop free speech in a socialistic way.
Its a pathetic waste of money and politically correct. If it was spent on some conservative cause folks would be up in arms, but since the radical, liberal Marxists are burning our cities, and MB is a huge Hitlary ClintStone supporter, its natural. There is no reason for any company to do this other than PC… absolutely zero people will buy a GM vehicle because of this….
And what is the definition of “racial justice” black men are 6% of the population but kill 42% of the cops, (black, white, ++) OI mean seriously “we the people” do not get the real story, only the things Lame Stream Media promotes so they get ratings….
Its insane….. SOOoooooo glad I’m not a GM Shareholder, this is pathetic…
Xjug,
And that’s the stupidity of it. No matter whether it’s a conservative cause or a liberal one, half of their prospective buyers, or a sizable number at least, are going to disagree. When they disagree, they are going to proclaim, “that’s it, that does it, I’m never buying a GM product again” and many never will. General Motors is not the robust all-conquering company they once were. They already have huge swaths of car buyers burned by past ownership experiences. The last thing they need is to alienate more customers. Mary Barra should make this donation personally out of her salary. She makes $23 million every year so $10 million should be no challenge for such an important cause to her. I think nobody would get mad if Barra gives her personal money away but when it’s company money, it potentially does harm to vehicle sales.
The real problem is our legal system. These groups can come in and if you refuse to pay up will take any incident that may have happened in a plant based on their cause and blow it up to where it cost you 100 times what the pay off is.
It is not unlike protection money paid to organized crime. You could fight it in court but then again the amount are more than the pay off.
So even if you are right you are wrong.
Now they have stepped it up and these groups have become violent. They can go around and damage vehicles or even burn dealers.
Look what happened to the Hummer brand by the radical tree huggers. They went to the point dealerships and inventory worth billions were destroyed.
Look at Drew Brees he said what he believed but then had to retract it or they were going to kill his career.
Until people stand up and expose this process your rights of free speech are in danger.
Last night they took my favorite show off live PD. It has been the highest rated tv show on cable for Friday and Saturday.
They showed just what police had to deal with live from saving kids to taking abuse from drug attics. You could make a drinking game with every car being pulled over that someone had a warrant.
Now they want to disband and defund police forces. The blue cities are doing that now. That is not going to work. Imagine how many will die in Chicago alone if the cops are pulled back?
There is an element out there that wants to destroy America. We stand in the way of a one world government and till we fall we hold that up.
With them owning the media they are programming the young into their agendas.
Like boiling frogs they are turning up the heat slow.y on the pan.
I really fear for our country. I expect these groups now they have instilled hostility will press for race wars. They will try to turn us against ourselves.
One country I feel is pushing much of this is China. And elements of the EU and UN.
The stakes are much bigger than $10 million.
Go woke and go broke, none of us want a racist country, but GM are idiots, the money would be far better used selling cars and hiring disadvantaged people. The people who will get this money probably all drive Honda’s
Amazon went woke by placing “Black Lives Matter” banners at the top of their website and their apps. Now, one of their distribution centers and a bunch of Amazon-owned trailers have been burned to the ground. Not broke, but that has to hurt.
I assume they have insurance or self-insured. I’m sure they’ll be fine.
That wasn’t my point.
Wasted money until blacks take accountability. They lead the country in the 3 worst categories the past 4 decades – 1. Lack of high school education 2. Lack of dual family parents 3. Lack of not committing crime. Even Martin Luther wrote Blacks must take accountability of the crimes they commit – witness Chicago – 24 deaths in 48 hours. No person is more important than another person. I support equal rights, but I do not support special rights.
Your points 1, 2, 3 miss the whole point. When a system is designed against you, succeeding in it makes what you call “normal” very difficult to achieve.
Imagine in school everyone you learn about that has ever done anything noteworthy is a white male, every professors in college is a white male and every high level executive in most companies is a white male. What do you think your chances of success are?
System designed against you? Wow you are quite the idiot. Chinese, Japanese, Sri Lankan, Pakistani, all do substantially better as 1st generation immigrants than third generation African Americans. I guess “the system” distinguishes subtle shades of color then.
Last time I checked none of those were brought over as slaves, several hundred years ago. There’s huge difference between an immigrant and a slave. All of the nationalities you mean still have ties to their home countries. And yes the “the system” distinguishes subtle shades of color. It’s a known scientific fact people identify with people like themselves.
None of the present blacks were “brought over as slaves” either. They have had 160 yeears to shake off the memories. Interned Japanese went on with their lives. Sponsored immigrant Jews with tattoos on their forearms came here, and started new, often successful lives. The Irish and Italians, seen as little more than animals, became a part of the fabric of America. The descendents of Chinese coolie labor now own a large chunk of San Francisco, and others are in the professions like dentistry, chemistry, and mathematics. Every single one of these groups did it without programs and welfare confiscated from the productive.
Pretty good of you Obama, Kapernick, Oprah and lil nas X. Even that new Star Wars actor is doing pretty good, and he can’t act to save his life.
How many blacks in the past 20 years in Wall St robberies. massive unemployment, outsourcing, plan the failed wars on Afghanistan / Iraq that killed millions and the pandemic bungalow?. But, but (que the dog whistle) Chicago!!(oh yeah Chicago been violent amongst all racial groups even before Al Capone)….
Perfect time to fire General Motors CEO Mary Barra and replace her with someone who truly understands General Motors, Edward T. Welburn.
The sad part is, General Motors would put Welburn in not because he is qualified, which he likely is, but, because he is black. Window dressing.
I feel these “pat yourself on the back” payments to charity are very patronizing and self-serving. As I mentioned in another post, if you really want to facilitate change in diverse communities, put your money where your mouth is. Hamtramck is a diverse community and one of the poorest in Michigan. How about leasing some industrial space there and hiring 300 people from the community to build seats for the upcoming EVs that will be built at Detroit Hamtramck Assembly? Or up the road in Pontiac. How about moving production of the Trailblazer and Encore from overseas to Orion and hiring 1,000 people to build them?
You do realize $10 million is probably less than they paid for their Hummer EV Superbowl commercial? It wouldn’t even be enough to buy a die and press for stamping a large part. I would rather it be spent on the community. In the long run it will pay itself back.
This entire argument / accusation is 100% false. It’s purely political. And the sick part is every company will get on board or the leftist MOB will bring them down. Look, whether you want to face facts or not it doesn’t change the reality. Younger black males (mostly between 15 -40) unleash a wave of violence in America on a daily basis. Read Obama’s own DOJ stats (listed below) and find out the truth. Never listen to the subversive media about ANYTHING. The Cop that killed George Floyd should & will Fry. That does not justify this Bolshevik onslaught of LIES & B.S. : Trying to vilify and slander an entire nation just to win an election is beyond SICK. America is a great nation, the most caring, free and fair in the world. The only racists I see are the marxists in the media trying to defame the entire country. Inform yourself with The facts / According to the new National Crime Victimization Survey published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, out of the 593,598 interracial violent victimization crimes between blacks and whites reported in 2018, 90 percent were black against white, and 9.5 percent were white against black. And the trend is getting worse. As usual the media narrative isn’t only false, the exact opposite is true. When comparing all interracial violent crime, Whites are victimized at a ratio of almost ten to one compare to blacks. But who cares about the truth, The left has an election to win. God help us.
The US can be a great nation, but let’s not pretend all is good once you look past the surface. Healthcare, retirement savings, education are some of the worst in first world nations.
For people with money that can afford good medical insurance, pay to live in the right areas, attend better primary and secondary schools. And save outside social security or even 401k’s and invest in the stock market – life is good.
Now what about the other 85% of the US?
This is another great move. It’s a very small gesture but it’s a good one to make.
Meanwhile in Communist CHINA, at the TOP of the list for human rights violations with a paramilitary “police” force ready to put you into hard labor or worse for speaking out against the Communist agenda, Mary B builds Buicks & makes millions. The STENCH of hypocrisy from the clueless Ivory Tower in Detroit has wafted all over America and it stinks to high heaven!!