Weather Channel owner Byron Allen is accusing General Motors (GM) CEO Mary Barra of racism in a full page ad.
What We Know:
- The ad was an open letter to GM and was signed by Allen, Ice Cube, Roland Martin, Todd F. Brown, Don Jackson, Earl “Butch” Growes Jr., and Junior Bridgeman, who are all top executives of black-owned media companies. Allen and the others have all expressed frustration over how GM only spends an alleged .5% of its budget on minority-owned publications. According to them, they have been trying to meet with Barra in person for five years now. On Monday, General Motors officially disregarded racism claims that are aimed at its CEO, Mary Barra.
- In January of 2015, Barra became the first female CEO of a major automaker. Since then, the GM board has become the first of any major corporation, with the majority of seats being female directors. Chief Marketing Officer Deborah Wahl has met with the accusers before, but the Black media group wants more action to be taken. Byron Allen’s ad also expressed that GM’s actions and words do not align.
- The Black media group is fighting for an increase in ad spending in minority-owned outlets, and they are achieving this by publicly applying pressure to GM. They are demanding that Barra meet with them or resign. Barra originally declined to comment on the accusations. However, GM has issued a statement that states the company “aspires to be the most inclusive company in the world, and that includes how we allocate media spending.”
- GM Spokesperson Pat Morrissey follows this statement by noting that the company supports initiatives like “Real Talk, Real Change,” which is aimed to encourage discussions about race.
- In 2020 GM released the latest-generation Cadillac Escalade, which featured a launch that was lead by director Spike Lee. GM is also sponsoring another project that observes racial issues called “More than That with Gia Peppers.” The show is the outcome of GM’s partnership with the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB). It is a nine-part content series podcast highlighting black culture and offers valuable insight to an intimate audience.
Mary Barra recently responded to the accusations and agreed to officially meet with the Black media group’s executives.
