Over the past week, a number of large corporations have been sending out emails and official statements to their customers encouraging specific support to black-owned businesses and organizations. Target, Ulta, The NorthFace, PetSmart, Dollar Shave Club, Fandango, SeatGeek just to name of few have all made public statements about donating to and putting a focus on specific businesses and organizations.
Similarly, DoorDash, Open Table, and Uber Eats will promote Black-owned businesses first on their apps and websites. In an email to its customers Uber's said the following, "we will use Uber Eats to promote Black-owned restaurants while making it easier for you to support them, with no delivery fees for the remainder of the year". The email continued, "And in the coming weeks, we will offer discounted rides to Black-owned small businesses, who have been hit hard by COVID-19, to help in their recovery".
DoorDash stated, "We are donating $1 million, with $500,000 going to Black Lives Matter and $500,000 to create a fund to be directed by the Black@DoorDash ERG towards state and local organizations". OpenTable's statement from COO, Andrea Johnston read in part, "We need to lean into our communities, support each other, and strive for a more open and inclusive world. In this spirit, we are helping people find and support Black-owned restaurants across the US".
Dollar Shave Club made this statement in their email: "We will be conducting an audit of our relationships with suppliers, vendors and media & advertising partners to ensure that we are not doing business with anyone who falls on the wrong side of this issue".
SeatGeek, which sells tickets to sporting events, music concerts, etc. took it a step further in their announcement, and instead of sending out the usual promotions for the current tickets to events they chose to send a list of links to make donations. The list comprised of Black Lives Matter, Fair Fight, and Unicorn Riot. In addition to the email sent to its customers, the Founder Russ D'Souza made the following statement on their website, "Like everyone, SeatGeek is actively thinking about what to do in response to recent tragedies. Simply enough, we must stand with Black Lives Matter and against police brutality and racial injustice".
Petsmart boldly stated that they will be working on actions that include a "$1 million scholarship fund to people of color to advance their educational aspirations".
The Anti-Discrimination Law refers to legislation designed to prevent discrimination against particular groups of people; these groups are often referred to as protected groups or protected classes and are designed to prevent discrimination in employment, housing, education, and other areas of social life, such as public accommodations. Anti-discrimination law may include protections for groups based on sex, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, mental illness or ability, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, sex characteristics, religion, creed, or individual political opinions.
Anti-discrimination laws are rooted in principles of equality, specifically, that individuals should not be treated differently due the characteristics outlined above.
