For Immediate Release: January 20, 2021
Contact: Louie Tan Vital, 425-330-5787, louie@megaphonestrategies.com; Cabot Petoia, 828-899-9239, cabot@megaphonestrategies.com
Racial Justice Group Responds to Biden Ending the Muslim Ban
To stop future Muslim bans, we need to ensure these complicit corporations stop funding and enabing fascism
*** Interviews available, email acre@megaphonestrategies.com***
Nationwide — In response to news that President Biden repealed Trump’s severe travel restrictions on countries with large Muslim populations, known as the “Muslim Ban,” Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE), Muslim Justice League and Little Sis released the following statement:
“We commend President Biden for moving swiftly to end the Muslim ban on Day One of his Presidency said Saqib Bhatti, Co-Executive Director of Action Center on Race and the Economy.
We also know as Muslims that we can’t let our civil and human rights become contingent on who is in the White House. We have to confront rising white supremacy and anti-Muslim bigotry in this country. To cut off the fuel that powers white fascism, we must take on the corporations that enable it- corporations like Blackstone, which supported the anti-Black, anti-immigrant, and anti-Muslim policies of the Trump aministration; like Fidelity, which funnels money for white supremacist and anti-Muslim groups; and like Amazon and Google, which provide platforms for fascists to organize, find new recruits, spread their propaganda, raise money, and plan violent attacks like the one at the Capitol earlier this month.
To stop future Muslim bans, we need to ensure these complicit corporations stop funding and enabing fascism.”
Last week, 41 grassroots groups sent letters to the CEOs of these corporations with various demands calling on them to stop funding and platforming white supremacists and fascists; ACRE sent follow-up letters to 30 of the largest public pension fund managers and 18 foundation presidents in the U.S., demanding they refuse to do future business with Blackstone or Fidelity unless they agree to the demands listed.
ACRE also sent letters to 20 major colleges and universities with large endowments asking them to cut ties with Amazon, Blackstone, Fidelity, and Google until the corporations agree to the demands listed.
In 2019, Crescendo, a project of the Action Center on Race and the Economy released a report on the role Wall Street and big tech continue to play in fueling anti-Muslim violence.
In 2018, Action Center on Race and the Economy released a report on how Amazon’s platforms are used to fuel racism.
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The Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE) is a campaign hub for organizations working at the intersection of racial justice and corporate accountability.