This is an interesting one that pits the Ford President against a board member. Either way, the article digs into an uncomfortable aspect of Ford.
https://jalopnik.com/america-s-great-ra ... 1844285290But, a letter to Hackett and company chairman Bill Ford is circulating at Ford’s headquarters, with employees being asked to digitally sign. According to some of the text of the letter:
On June 1st, you communicated to the company your commitment to “lead from the front and fully commit to creating the fair, just and inclusive culture that our employees deserve.” We thank you for your leadership on this initiative. We also appreciate and fully support your statement against “superficial actions,” and we write to push for real action by Ford Motor Company to address our role in the structures that perpetuate racism in society.
On May 25th, 2020 George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis Police, alongside a Ford Police Interceptor. Days later, police officers drove Ford Police Interceptors into crowds of protesters in New York City and Los Angeles. During these past weeks, our vehicles have been used to deploy chemical weapons banned by the Geneva Convention.
Throughout our history, the vehicles that Ford employees design and build have been used as accessories to police brutality and oppression. We know that while many join, support, or supply law enforcement with good intentions, these racist policing practices that plague our society are historic and systemic—a history and system perpetuated by Ford for over 70 years—ever since Ford introduced the first-ever police package in 1950. As an undeniable part of that history and system, we are long overdue to “think and act differently” on our role in racism.
Something that stood out to me is Ford’s stance on “superficial actions,” which I’m guessing is a sub toward the many, many public gestures of alliance to Black Lives Matter, ranging from those empty #brand statements of white text on black backgrounds to murals painted on streets that we’re already forgetting about. It’s obvious Ford suggested it wanted to avoid that kind of empty lip service and instead pledged to make real change when an opportunity presents itself.
From the looks of it, no one in Ford’s C-suite was actually expecting such an opportunity to come.