How to beat Trump’s hate

At CREDO we believe that when we witness racism, xenophobia, or any other form of bigotry we have an obligation to fight back.

That is why we are doing everything we can to stand up to Donald Trump’s demonization of immigrants, dehumanization of people of color, and the violence his hateful rhetoric has incited and spawned.

Thankfully we have an incredible partner in frequent CREDO donations recipient ColorOfChange. From demanding Glenn Beck’s advertisers abandon his program to successful campaigns to remove racist shows like Cops from TV, they have led the way in holding corporations accountable for the racism their sponsorship dollars fund.

Now we are proud to partner with ColorOfChange and other progressive allies to stand up to the companies who are sponsoring the Republican National Convention (RNC) that will confirm Trump as the Republican presidential nominee. Corporate sponsorship of the RNC helps mainstream and sanitize Trump’s racism, xenophobia and misogyny. It is irresponsible and dangerous for any company to choose access to political power over standing up to bigotry and hate. We’re working hard to make sure that corporations get that message, and feel the pressure to do the right thing.

We are already seeing success. 93,000 CREDO activists signed a petition demanding Coca-Cola drop their sponsorship of the convention. 63,000 made the same request of Microsoft. Both companies have now scaled back their support and pledged not to make any additional cash donations to the convention.

Google, a company whose motto is “Don’t Be Evil,” is still a sponsor of the RNC, with its YouTube division set to serve as the official livestream provider of the convention. The company refuses to discuss their sponsorship decision with ColorOfChange or with CREDO. Google is a company that claims to be a leader when it comes to workplace diversity and inclusion. Its decision to sponsor Trump’s hate flies in the face of those values. Google leaders have a choice to make: Live up to their stated values of diversity and inclusion, or align their brand with Trump’s toxic candidacy.

We’ve been working hard to help keep the pressure on Google to make the right choice.

In April, we worked with ColorOfChange, UltraViolet, Bend the Arc, Center for Media Justice, Daily Kos, Courage Campaign, Free Press Action Fund and SumOfUs to deliver more than half a million petition signatures demanding that Google end its sponsorship of the RNC to Google headquarters.

We also released this video highlighting the hate that Google is now supporting:

CREDO then bought targeted ads of the video so that more than 10,000 Google employees in Washington, DC and the San Francisco Bay Area would see it.

Our campaign didn’t end there. CREDO activists have made more than 1,700 phone calls to key members of Google’s leadership team, pointing out that “Google’s sponsorship of the RNC aligns Google’s brand with Trump’s hate and helps legitimize his racism, xenophobia and misogyny” and demanding that the company “back away from its planned sponsorship of the Republican convention and of Donald Trump’s hate.” Those calls continue every day.

It isn’t too late for Google to reverse course and decide not to provide a platform for Donald Trump’s hate.

In the coming weeks not only will CREDO continue to target Google, but also other companies that sponsor Trump’s hate.

UPDATE June 2, 2016: Hewlett-Packard (HP) just joined Coca Cola and Microsoft as the latest company to back away from sponsorship of a Donald Trump-led Republican National Convention (RNC).

Hewlett-Packard’s move gives our campaign a huge boost as it further isolates companies that are sponsoring the RNC. These companies have a clear choice: either stand up for diversity and inclusion and back away from Trump’s hate, or publicly align their brands with Trump’s toxic candidacy.

But our work is not done. We need to keep reminding these companies that corporate sponsorship of Trump’s coronation will give Trump a stamp of approval that will help sanitize and normalize his dangerous, bigoted, hateful rhetoric. Tell corporations: No stamp of approval for Trump’s hate.