Al Sharpton Threatens McDonald's, Accuses Company of Racism for What He Says Comes with Big Macs
Left-wing activist and President of the National Action Network, Al Sharpton, has accused McDonald’s of failing to properly address accusations of racial discrimination by the company.
In a Thursday letter sent to McDonald’s Corporation, Sharpton demanded that the company rectify “longstanding” issues regarding their allegedly discriminatory practices.
Otherwise, Sharpton warned that he and his group would “mobilize to demand action against the fast-food giant.”
“We find it appalling and inexcusable that McDonald’s Corporation has not satisfied its differences with the Black community,” Sharpton said in the letter, before noting the number of legal woes already facing the fast food titan.
“There are lawsuits brought by Black franchises. Another brought by a Black former executive over racial discrimination from the highest levels.”
Sharpton doubled down on his claims of McDonald’s being racist, accusing the the fast food chain of only offering a “little justice” with its signature Big Macs — and little else.
“You cannot sell Black folks Big Macs and give us little justice,” he wrote.
“And let’s not forget the $10 billion lawsuit brought by Byron Allen over the fact that Black-owned media did not get its fair share of McDonald’s supersized advertising budgets,” he said, referring to a lawsuit filed last year by Allen, who accused McDonald’s of excluding black-owned businesses from advertising with the company.
Allen, of Allen Media Group, argued at the time that McDonald’s was guilty of “overt and systemic racism” because they refused to advertise on his subsidiaries, which include The Weather Channel and Comedy TV.
“This is about economic inclusion of African American-owned businesses in the U.S. economy,” Allen said at the time. “McDonald’s takes billions from African American consumers and gives almost nothing back.”
Allen’s case is ongoing and set to go to trial in May, after McDonald’s repeatedly failed to have the case dismissed, the St. Louis American reported.
On top of Allen, Sharpton made sure to point out the host of other alleged bad exits that prominent black executives experienced.
In Sharpton’s letter, he went on to cite McDonalds’ recent removal of John Rogers – “a well-respected business leader for the Black community” – from their Board of Directors, appearing to suggest that it constituted a similar act of exclusion.
Rogers was said to have retired from the company at the same time as Robert Eckert, in late March. Both joined McDonald’s board of directors on the same day in 2003, according to a news release from McDonald’s.
The company described their retirements as part of their “commitment to ongoing refreshment that maintains an appropriate balance of continuity and institutional knowledge with fresh perspectives among Directors.”
It’s unclear why Sharpton cited Rogers’ exit as a racially motivated move.
However, a similar case occurred last December, in which former McDonald’s executive Michael Peaster sued the company’s CEO, Chris Kempczinski, after being fired.
The lawsuit argued that his termination was discriminatory and racially motivated but McDonald’s said it was because Peaster was bad at his job, which was managing Kempczinski’s personal security, according to Business Insider.
Sharpton concluded his letter by making clear that if McDonald’s fails to “immediately acknowledge and address these issues,” he and his organization will begin “a national campaign” targeting the company.
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