{"id":148378,"date":"2020-06-03T11:21:49","date_gmt":"2020-06-03T15:21:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=148378"},"modified":"2020-06-04T09:54:02","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T13:54:02","slug":"auto-industry-leaders-speak-out-on-black-lives-matter-u-s-unrest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2020\/06\/auto-industry-leaders-speak-out-on-black-lives-matter-u-s-unrest\/","title":{"rendered":"Auto Industry Leaders Speak Out on Black Lives Matter, U.S. Unrest"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"GM<\/a>
During a meeting of Detroit’s civic leaders, GM CEO Mary Barra said she was \u201cimpatient and disgusted\u201d by the brutal treatment black Americans often face today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The alleged murder of George Floyd at the hands of police while being arrested in Minneapolis last month has triggered sometimes violent protests across the United States, but also an outpouring of responses from religious, civic and business leaders \u2013 including the top executives of some of the country\u2019s largest automakers.<\/p>\n

In a message sent to General Motors\u2019 employees, suppliers and dealers, CEO and Chairman Mary Barra said she was \u201cimpatient and disgusted\u201d by the fact that black Americans continue to face such brutal treatment, adding that it is time for \u201cmeaningful, deliberate change.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a letter sent to global employees, meanwhile, Mike Manley, the CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said, \u201cI emphatically reject the hatred and prejudice that still tears at the fabric of our society and which led to the death of George Floyd and so many before him.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(If May car sales beat expectations, low rates likely cause.)<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The U.S. auto industry has, in many ways, served as a living laboratory for social change. Some of the industry\u2019s pioneers were openly racist, or worse. Henry Ford was an avowed anti-Semite whose newspaper, the Dearborn Independent, spent years publishing hateful editorials cited by Nazi leaders. His grandson, Henry Ford II, spent years making amends and was a strong proponent of the State of Israel.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
FCA CEO Mike Manley told employees that he “emphatically rejected hatred and prejudice” black Americans still face.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ironically, the auto industry provided some of the first opportunities for blacks and other minorities, many moving from the South to Detroit and other communities for work on assembly lines \u2013 though the Motor City remained one of the most segregated communities in the country, which fueled the explosive 1967 riots.<\/p>\n

In recent years, Detroit\u2019s automakers have made a push for greater inclusion, asserted Manley in his e-mail. \u201cOne of our key corporate values is inclusion, celebration of diversity and the absolute rejection of\u00a0 racism and bigotry, for me this goes beyond a corporate value, he wrote, adding that, \u201cWe have an obligation to celebrate the diverse culture of who we are, we owe it to our company but more importantly we owe it to ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

GM\u2019s Barra was herself hailed as a sign of changing times when she took over as CEO in January 2014, the first female to lead a major automaker anywhere in the world. She has markedly increased not only the number of women but also of minorities, overall, in senior ranks at the company.<\/p>\n

(May sales to drop as fleet sales collapse.)<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

But Barra said such steps are not enough. The nation, she said in her own e-mail, has major issues to, first, acknowledge and, then, to address.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Henry Ford II, left, spent much of his career making amends for his grandfather’s anti-Semitism and other prejudices.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe recent deaths of\u00a0George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor astonishingly add to the important and unconscionable list of black Americans who have lost their lives based on the color of their skin,\u201d said Barra. \u201cI am both impatient and disgusted by the fact that as a nation, we seem to be placated by the passive discussion of \u2018why.\u2019 Why does this happen? Why can\u2019t we get to a different place? Why is the response so visceral?\u201d<\/p>\n

The events of the past week have triggered protests across the United States. In turn, there have been demonstrations around the world, huge crowds gathering outside American embassies in Canada, Germany and even Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

But FCA\u2019s Manley stressed that, \u201cAlthough we are seeing the rawness of this issue exposed in the United States, the scourge of racism and discrimination has no respect for international boundaries. As employees of one of the largest companies in the world,\u201d he added, \u201cwe absolutely have the individual and collective power to make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

(FCA moves closer to full production in North America.)<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

If there is a positive side to what has happened over the past week, said GM\u2019s Barra, it is that the issue of racism and police brutality can no longer be hidden. \u201cBecause awareness leads to dialogue \u2026 dialogue leads to understanding \u2026 and understanding leads to change.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The alleged murder of George Floyd at the hands of police last month has triggered not only sometimes violent protests, but also an outpouring of responses from religious, civic and business leaders \u2013 including the top executives of some of the country\u2019s largest automakers, reports TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,5],"tags":[],"make":[51,58],"post-state":[],"category_old":[118,140,150,151,123,133,131,299,191,243,132,125,124,139,148,128,288],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148378"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148378"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=148378"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=148378"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=148378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}