« The DNC virtual convention — a pitiful and appalling sham | It's no accident that Americans are remarkably ignorant about the Wuhan virus »
August 20, 2020

Did Goodyear say that BLM is okay in the workplace, but MAGA is not?

By Andrea Widburg

The image hit the internet with the force of an explosion.  It showed a slide from a mandatory diversity training event at the Topeka Goodyear plant.  The slide identified Goodyear's zero-tolerance policy, which holds that Black Lives Matter and LGBT topics are acceptable in the workplace but that the claims that Blue Lives Matter and All Lives Matter are unacceptable, as are MAGA attire and anything that is a "political affiliated" (sic) slogan or sign.

President Trump promptly announced that if Goodyear could boycott MAGA, he and his supporters could boycott Goodyear.  Goodyear has since tried to walk back the slide, but its denial only confirms that the slide is accurate.

The starting point is this photograph, which an employee took during a Goodyear diversity training session:

For anyone who doubts the provenance of that slide, there's audio, too:

"Some people may wish to express their views on social justice or inequity or equity issues such as black lives matter or LGBTQ pride on their face coverings, shirts or wristbands. That will be deemed approved because it applies with a zero-tolerance stance," the speaker said during the meeting. "However if any associate wears all, blue, white lives matter shirts or face coverings, that will be not appropriate."

[snip]

The speaker does not specifically mention the Donald Trump's 'Make America Great Again' slogan shown on the slide, but did say political campaigns are a no-go.

"Democrat. Republican. Trump. Biden. Sanders. Whatever. That will no longer be allowed in the plant," he listed off.

(You can listen to the audio here.)

The image might have wandered around the internet for a while and vanished.  It didn't, though, because President Trump announced that Americans should no longer accept these slights.  It's time to fight back:

Here's just one example of someone who took the boycott seriously:

Goodyear scrambled to create space between itself and the slide.  The following sounds like a denial, but, if you read it carefully, it's not:

The weasel language begins with the paragraph claiming that "the visual in question was not created or distributed by Goodyear corporate ..." (emphasis added).  This means that while the slide wasn't from the home office, it is a Goodyear slide.  The same paragraph then continues to describe Goodyear's zero-tolerance policy.  My comments are in the square brackets:

To be clear on our longstanding corporate policy, Goodyear has zero tolerance for any forms of harassment or discrimination. [So far, so good.] To enable a work environment free of those, we ask that associates refrain from workplace expressions in support of political campaigning for any candidate or political party [that knocks out MAGA hats, right?], as well as similar forms of advocacy that fall outside the scope of racial justice and equity issues. [And right there, with that woke language, Goodyear admitted that its zero tolerance policy allows full expression of leftist ideology — and what could be more leftist than BLM and LGBT?]

The problem is that Goodyear's woke management doesn't recognize that Black Lives Matter is a political entity, just as the LGBT spectrum is.  It's one thing telling employees they may not discriminate based on race or sexual orientation.  All of us would agree.  It's another thing entirely to pretend that BLM and LGBT aren't advancing political positions that tie in with the Democrat party just as surely as MAGA and Police Lives Matter are on the opposite side politically.

Corporations are woke because, for the most part, management no longer comes from within.  Instead, management consists of college grads.  These graduates spent four years marinated in leftism, and they bring that leftism to corporations that then implement leftist policies that offend the bulk of the buying public.  Go woke, go broke.

Image: Stripping tube on mandrel before sending to cure, Goodyear Tire Factory, by the Keystone View Company, c. 1928; Library of Congress No. 95507173, no known restrictions on publication, no renewal in copyright office.

If you experience technical problems, please write to helpdesk@americanthinker.com