The heads of General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles each pledged Tuesday to create more inclusive workplaces in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer, which has ignited long-simmering frustration with violence against African Americans into nationwide protests, both peaceful and violent, in recent days.
GM's Mary Barra, Ford's Jim Hackett and Bill Ford and FCA's Mike Manley included their pledges in messages to employees, expressing dismay or disgust at the nation's longstanding racial disparities and calling for change. They also highlighted the fact that Floyd's death, captured in an agonizing video, is only one of many, with Barra, GM's chairman and CEO, listing two other recent killings of African Americans.
"The recent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor astonishingly add to the important and unconscionable list of black Americans who have lost their lives based on the color of their skin," Barra wrote. "I am both impatient and disgusted by the fact that as a nation, we seem to be placated by the passive discussion of 'why.' Why does this happen? Why can’t we get to a different place? Why is the response so visceral?"
Floyd died May 25 in Minneapolis after a police officer knelt for several minutes on his neck. That officer has been charged with murder.
Arbery was jogging in Brunswick, Georgia, on Feb. 23 when he was gunned down, and Taylor, an emergency medical technician, was killed by police who were at her home on March 13 on a search warrant. Woodtv.com said Taylor grew up in Grand Rapids.
Manley, FCA's CEO, said he rejects the hatred that led to the deaths of Floyd and others.
"On behalf of everyone at the company, I emphatically reject the hatred and prejudice that still tears at the fabric of our society and which led to the death of George Floyd and so many before him. ... Although we are seeing the rawness of this issue exposed in the United States, the scourge of racism and discrimination has no respect for international boundaries. As employees of one of the largest companies in the world, we absolutely have the individual and collective power to make a difference. Starting from how we treat each other at work through to creating opportunities for everyone to fulfill their potential, FCA can be a powerful and meaningful force for change," Manley said.
Bill Ford, his company's executive chairman, and Hackett, Ford's president and CEO, said racism has no place in society.
"We cannot turn a blind eye to (racism) or accept some sense of 'order' that’s based on oppression. Many of us cannot know what it is truly like to be part of a community of color, to know what it is like to be afraid for our children every time they leave the house, or to worry that this day might be our last. But as long as so many of our colleagues, our friends, live with that fear, how can we live with ourselves? As long as we have the privilege to breathe, it’s on all of us to summon new levels of empathy and humanity," they wrote.
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The company leaders also said they would take a number of actions to bring change.
Barra said she would commission and chair an Inclusion Advisory Board made up of internal and external leaders, effective by the end of the quarter.
Manley said he and his leadership teams were committed to addressing issues of race "openly, honestly and by listening to one another."
Ford and Hackett said they would meet with employees, engage with the Ford African Ancestry Network and ask company leaders "to hold dialogues with their teams to understand how people are feeling and discuss how we can get better together."
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.
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GM, Ford, FCA leaders call for inclusion, end to racism in wake of George Floyd death - Detroit Free Press
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