Last month, North Carolina passed an appalling anti-gay law that blocks local governments from passing rules that protect gay and transgender people from discrimination. Rightfully so, it ignited a firestorm of controversy, and threats from some of our nation's leading tech corporations to cease doing business with the state. But what should be an inspiring show of "corporate responsibility" rings hollow when some of these same entities are taking our hard-earned dollars and using them to fund a platform of hate and violence.
Donald Trump's racist, xenophobic, misogynistic rise to the top of the GOP mountaintop is undeniable. With his likely coronation slated for July 17th's Republican National Convention, it is astounding how many of the event's corporate sponsors are the very same entities taking a stand in North Carolina. Many of them are tech companies, most prominently Google, who say all the right things, but time and again—whether through hiring practices or, in this case, bankrolling hate speech—betray what little regard they have for communities of color.