What Big Business Said in All Those Anti-Racism Statements: Not Much, Says Our Analysis

October 14, 2020

PORTLAND OREGON - SEPTEMBER 25: Black Lives Matter graffiti and murals cover many buildings downtown, including national chain stores such as Apple and Louis Vuitton, as seen on September 25, 2020 in Portland Oregon. The city, with a large activist community, is surrounded by conservative rural areas, and the political between urban and rural areas during the 2020 Presidential elections is particularly acute in Oregon. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

On May 28, Chris Crane, the president and CEO of Fortune 100 energy provider Exelon sent a message to his employees.

“Dear Colleagues,” it began. “During these extraordinary times, when many parts of our lives have changed, it’s more important than ever that we ground ourselves in the fundamental values that define us as a company.”

The memo, which was published on Exelon’s website five days later, was just one in a deluge of corporate anti-racist solidarity statements that overtook the internet after the death of George Floyd on May 25. Through the end of June, there was a frenzy of promises to do better and, according to Axios, 50 of the 100 U.S.-based companies with the highest reported revenue for the 2019 fiscal year donated a total of $2.05 billion to fight racial inequality. By the end of September, that number rose to 58 companies pledging a total of $3.33 billion.