Comcast Confronted for Practicing Racism While Claiming to Fight Racism

On Wednesday, National Legal and Policy Center presented a resolution at Comcast Corporation‘s annual shareholder meeting that would require greater transparency and itemization by the company about its charitable contributions.

The company’s board of directors opposed our proposal, as explained on pages 61-62 of its proxy statement.

Speaking as sponsor of the resolution was Paul Chesser, director of NLPC’s Corporate Integrity Project. A transcript of his three-minute remarks, which you can listen to here, follows:

I’m Paul Chesser, director of the Corporate Integrity Project for National Legal and Policy Center.

 

Comcast’s response against our resolution to be more transparent about its charitable donations says the company does “enough” to disclose its contribution details.

 

Even though they lie when they say it, most other companies I’ve dealt with say they provide “robust” disclosure.

 

So in comparison, Comcast is satisfied with their “C-minus” effort by saying they do “enough.”

 

What little we do know about Comcast’s charity is disturbing.

 

It’s not surprising the parent company of the NBC Networks would pull off the amazing feat of practicing racism, while implementing a charitable initiative that purports to stop racism.

 

Four white, male small-business owners are suing Comcast because the company said they were ineligible to apply for its “RISE” grant program.

 

Only small businesses “owned and operated at least 51 percent by someone who identifies as black, indigenous, a person of color, or a female” are eligible.

 

As one of the plaintiffs, who co-runs his business with his wife, explained in the Wall Street Journal, if they had registered their business with the IRS in her name, they’d have been eligible for Comcast’s program.

 

If Comcast had any smart lawyers to review this program, they would have known that it runs afoul of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which “prohibits racial discrimination in the making and enforcement of private contracts.”

 

A contract with Comcast is part of the RISE program.

 

While Comcast discriminates against white men, its own wealthy black employees are eligible for grants, believe it or not.

 

That’s right, race demagogue and MSNBC personality Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network is the beneficiary of Comcast’s generosity with shareholder assets.

 

Just how does that work, Comcast?

 

Do Joy Reid and Lester Holt also enjoy an additional revenue stream from Comcast, thanks to its white-guilt donations following the 2020 summer riots?

 

Again, this is why we seek greater transparency on these matters.

 

In June 2020, after the death of George Floyd, Comcast’s white Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts (pictured above) said the company planned to allocate $100 million dollars “to fight injustice and inequality against ANY race.”

 

So clearly that was a lie.

 

He also said he was “outraged over the far-too-familiar and frequent acts of violence against the black community.”

 

Too bad Mr. Roberts’s and Comcast’s alleged outrage don’t extend to black community violence that occurs on a nightly basis in places like Chicago, New York, or its hometown of Philadelphia, with weekends being especially deadly.

 

Of course, they may not know that’s happening, because MSNBC and NBC don’t report on that “systemic” problem.

 

Regardless, it’s clear Comcast’s donations have more to do with virtue-signaling than with actually improving the lives of black Americans.

Read NLPC’s shareholder resolution for the Comcast Corporation annual meeting here.

Listen to Chesser’s three-minute remarks in support of the proposal here.

 

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Tags: Al Sharpton, Brian Roberts, Comcast, MSNBC, NBC, racism, shareholder activism