bottom lines

When corporations were told by American consumers that their participation in an apartheid run government was unacceptable, and by either passively or aggressively assisting in a form of government limiting human and civil rights to any or all of its citizens was appalling; corporations realizing that what might become oppressed were their own bottom-lines and profits, cut ties with South Africa. Corporations reacted to a threat against their own stability and future (not the South Africans of color) and only when the consumer found the balls and backbone to threaten the well being of corporations did the CEO’s and Boards act in a human and concerned manner toward the minorities in South Africa. 

NBC/Universal the owners and operators of the 2014 Winter Olympics are insistent that the oppressive and punitive laws against homosexuals is really not that important to pull out from sponsoring the Games. Along with their sugar daddies (Coca Cola, GE, Mc Donald’s, Panasonic, P&G. VISA, Samsung), we are told the spirit of competition will continue. Somehow these corporate giants think that permitting the games to go on,will show the Russians that their bigoted and bogus business of apartheid will be ignored as homosexual and heterosexual athletes vie for medals. Somehow these corporations believe that the Russians will not behave badly during the games and once the games have ended well, what the hell it is the business of the Russians anyway. Corporations also thought that the apartheid in South Africa was the business of the South Africans never to interfere with the bottom-lines of the the corporations in that nation. Most of the marketing mavens at the corporations paying for the homophobic games have provided dour and dreary treaties about how not one of their homosexual employees will be impacted by this unfair and inhuman law. But the bottom-line is the bottom-line and soft drinks burgers, electronics bank transactions must feel safe so the Games must go on.

NBC/Universal in an insincere and patronizing way has used two of its Gay identified personalities Thomas Roberts and Johnny Weir to speak up and out about the homosexual thing; sending Roberts to the Miss Universe pageant and Weir doing whatever weird things he does. If our homos’ have no problem with the Russians, so say NBC/Universal then all is okay. Each day, more and more LGBT citizens of Russia are brutalized, bullied and attacked. Each and every day rights and freedoms are being denied because suddenly there is a law stating that if you are a homosexual you are not a citizen and not human. In South Africa blacks were told that separate but equal is fine and dandy also. In South Africa until real humans interested in human and civil rights intervened separate but equal (or in the case of Russia separate but not equal) was tolerated. Once the people of America said separate is not good and threatened the corporations did the practice of apartheid stop. Ringing their hands, promising that their homosexual staff will not be harmed or even stopping their homosexual employs from being in harms way so far is the ONLY reaction corporations funding the apartheid laws of the Russians have behaved in curtailing this discrimination. The games must go on say the corporations because we have invested so much money in the Sochi Olympics.

Corporations in America have recently been added as the newest species of people. One might wonder then if corporations  are people where is the conscience, concern, empathy, emotional impact to stop injustice, demand fair and fight for equality?  Too often we ignore history, many times to the detriment of building a future, and refuse to learn from the victories achieved. Apartheid, discrimination, racism, misogynism, homophobia when sponsored by governments and paid for by corporations can be stopped. The corporations who refuse to stop this discrimination must first realize how it feels to be the brunt of discrimination. Boycotting the products of these compliant homophobes is a time tested remedy to stop this injustice.