Democrats want big tech companies to start doing racial equity audits, supposedly to promote racial justice in hiring and employment practices.
The truth is that this is all about power and making sure these companies are stacked with social justice warriors.
Santi Ruiz reports at the Washington Free Beacon:
Democrats Push ‘Racial Equity Audits’ To Cement Control of Tech CompaniesDemocrats want to subject tech companies to mandatory “racial equity audits” conducted by their political allies, a move which could cement the party’s control of Silicon Valley.A small group of organizations with close ties to Democratic politicians and progressive donors conducts the majority of these audits, which advocates say are needed to promote racial justice. But in practice, equity auditors often push companies to hire more left-wing activists and former Democratic party officials, often from the auditing organizations themselves. The audits also call for the abolition of standards of “merit” and the ability for a special executive to veto any company project.Racial equity audits are the chief service offered by “diversity, equity, and inclusion” consultants, a cottage industry connected by a revolving door of Democratic staffers and funded by liberal donors. Equity auditors have made a killing from school districts that pay handsomely for consultants to revamp curricula, the Washington Free Beacon has reported. Now, racial equity auditors are setting their sights on corporate America.
The intent behind this is purely political, as Ruiz points out:
Color of Change has already succeeded in using racial equity audits to shape big tech policy. In 2018, it successfully pushed Facebook into completing an audit that called for more restrictions on Trump’s posts. Color of Change itself pushed for Trump to be permanently banned from the platform. After the audit was released, Facebook hired an Obama administration Justice Department official to lead the company’s civil rights strategy.
As I have been saying for a few years now, if you want to know what Democrats in Washington will do tomorrow, just look at what the campus left is doing today. The Democratic party increasingly bases policy ideas on the lunacy we see on college campuses every day.
That is not an exaggeration. I give you, Harvard Law School, October 2021:
Racial Equity Audits: A New ESG InitiativeThe increasing focus on environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) considerations at public companies, including this year’s highly publicized proxy contest at Exxon Mobil Corporation (“Exxon”), has demonstrated the growing importance of understanding ESG and the implications it can have for investors and companies. Among the many ESG developments bubbling to the forefront of the markets in recent years is the desire of investors to see companies address social justice concerns.In particular, shareholders have begun to request that companies conduct racial equity audits (“Racial Equity Audits”), which generally seek an independent, objective and holistic analysis of a company’s policies, practices, products, services and efforts to combat systemic racism in order to end discrimination within or exhibited by the company with respect to its customers, suppliers or other stakeholders.
Big tech is actually late to this game. Other industries are already doing this.
Here’s an announcement from Citi in October:
Citi Will Conduct a Racial Equity AuditWe believe that by advancing our commitments to help close the racial wealth gap in the United States we can have a meaningful impact on our colleagues, clients and the communities we serve. Measurement and transparency are important components of the work we are doing to advance diversity, equity and inclusion, both at our bank and through our contributions to our communities and society more generally. We have shown our commitment to these principles when we set and disclosed our representation goals and shared the results of our pay equity analysis. Today, we’re demonstrating our ongoing support for measurement and transparency by committing to conduct a racial equity audit.
This is meant to replace merit-based practices with equity, which places power in the hands of the left.
Progressives used to hate corporations, but now they’ve figured out a way to take them over.
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