Liberals Should Let Republicans Go After “Woke” Corporations
It’s that time of year! Everywhere you look, you’re sure to find red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. You’ll find the colors waving back and forth on city halls and local businesses, printed on coffee cups, broadcast on TV, and used as a temporary color scheme for companies that make bombs.
Pride Month is certainly an important month for many Americans and other LGBTQ+ individuals throughout the world. Major corporations have taken note and commercialized it to the point of meme status. The tradition of corporations adding rainbow backgrounds to their logos each June consistently draws ridicule from liberals and conservatives alike, albeit for different reasons. What’s different about the disdain between liberals and conservatives is that the former sees pride colors as a cheap attempt to attract LGBT consumers (the Middle East social media accounts of these companies do not feature pride colors), while the latter views it as existential threat (and a winning issue).
The corporate embrace of Pride Month isn’t the only thing that bothers conservatives. Since George Floyd’s murder and the protests and riots that followed, corporations from Amazon to Starbucks have embraced “woke” marketing strategies and business practices to prove they are on the “right side of history.” The major streaming services all offer curated lists of film and television focused on the Black experience; Coca-Cola employees had to take a “Confronting Racism” course that encouraged employees to “try to be less white.” Such practices have compelled conservatives to accuse these corporations of “reverse discrimination.”
Republicans have also taken issue with a perceived threat to free speech as companies censor or remove certain content and products from their inventory. For example, eBay, which operates more as a marketplace than a store, removed all listings of Dr. Seuss books that the Seuss estate announced it would no longer publish because of their offensive portrayal of people of color. Similarly, Amazon recently removed the three year old book, When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment, from its website. After criticism from several Republican lawmakers, Amazon responded by claiming they would not sell books that “frames LGBTQ+ identities as mental illness.”
All of this has culminated in Republicans taking a surprising stand. The culture war has become more important than trickle-down economics. As the party increasingly embraces populist politics, cultural issues have taken precedence over being friendly with big business. As Senator Marco Rubio puts it, “…the days of conservatives being taken for granted by the business community are over.” Mitch McConnell told CEOs to stay out of politics, and Rubio essentially became a supporter of Amazon unionization efforts. While some Republicans like Mitt Romney wish to see the party return to its traditional economic values: “For me, the amount of our debt has been a concern and continues to be and I’m going to continue battling on that front,” Rutgers University political science professor Ross K. Baker says, “Republicans see cultural hot-button issues as more effective in generating attention than attacking Biden [and his policies].” It’s a departure from the conventional wisdom that Republicans are pro-business. It’s a move that should make liberals rejoice.
Liberals hate corporations and the wealthy CEOs who run them. Pew Research found that 90% of self-described liberals think corporations are too powerful, and 87% say they make too much profit. They also found that more than 75% of Democratic voters believe there is too much economic inequality in America. So while Senator Josh Hawley’s bill to limit the acquisitions of “Woke Big Tech companies” for “censor[ing] political opinions they don’t agree with,” may not be why liberals want to go after corporations, they should welcome any help they can get. After all, what matters more: Amazon Prime Video’s “Amplify Black Voices” page, or congressional support for the rights of warehouse workers and preventing the expansion of mega conglomerates?
