Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Zorro

(15,691 posts)
Sun Jun 14, 2020, 09:58 PM Jun 2020

U.S. corporations are 'virtue signaling' like crazy on race. But actions speak louder than words.

Sitting on my friend’s front porch the other day, I was surprised to see Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, peering at me from my phone as he took a knee. The photo, now circulated widely, shows the gray-haired honcho alongside a rainbow platoon of rank-and-file workers at one of his company’s bank branches, kneeling in what appears to be a gesture of racial solidarity.

Days earlier, I had noticed a viral tweet from Adidas announcing, “Together is how we move forward. Together is how we make change.” Not to be outdone, Reebok Instagrammed its own timely message, “We are not asking you to buy our shoes. We are asking you to walk in someone else’s.” Nike, Citigroup, Disney and many other commercial behemoths have all sent their own messages challenging racism.

We are seeing, in other words, an epidemic of “virtue signaling,” a term coined in 2015 by James Bartholomew, a British financial journalist. He used the phrase to describe public acts intended to align the signaler, at very little personal cost, with the righteous side of a timely cause.

Companies analyze risks versus benefits when deciding to make political statements, so maybe it is encouraging to find so many of them believe the tide is in favor of publicly speaking out on race. On the other hand, the schmaltzy signals they’re sending telegraph only vague sentiments. Should we really have to applaud the fact that Disney stands “against racism” or that CBS condemns “racism, discrimination and senseless acts of violence?” Shouldn’t those companies have made their positions apparent, before a spate of killings by police and impassioned protests across 75 towns and cities?

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-06-14/corporations-race-virtue-signaling

1 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
U.S. corporations are 'virtue signaling' like crazy on race. But actions speak louder than words. (Original Post) Zorro Jun 2020 OP
I am annoyed that Johnson and Johnson has come out with " brown and black skin "bandaids tulipsandroses Jun 2020 #1

tulipsandroses

(5,094 posts)
1. I am annoyed that Johnson and Johnson has come out with " brown and black skin "bandaids
Sun Jun 14, 2020, 11:22 PM
Jun 2020

Gee all that time, I thought that peachy/pink color was just the color it came in. I did not think that it was supposed to mimic white skin with the exclusion of not having black skin represented. Sigh, they could have kept that. IMO, it makes you look more of a shitty company for having these black and brown bandaids. As someone else said on a blog, heck they've had blue bandaids for a long time. So surfs got their own bandaids before black folks?

By the way, I found out that there are black owned companies that have been making black and brown band aids for a while already. If I just have to have brown or black bandaids, I will get it from them. Please don't patronize me.

Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Editorials & Other Articles»U.S. corporations are 'vi...