KEN BLACKWELL: The Return Of Corporate Political Coercion

Throughout 2020’s “summer of love,” many corporations believed that a public declaration of solidarity with Black Lives Matter would insulate them from the chaos that Antifa and coordinated violence were unleashing in American cities. It did not.

Succumbing to manufactured pressure only fueled the flames of division and unrest. Support brought boycotts from one side; subsequent retreat brought boycotts from the other. Meanwhile, Americans just wanted their favorite stores to stop playing politics and get back to business.

This past weekend, however, we witnessed something entirely different and extraordinary from the Minnesota business community. Faced with tragedy and agitation unfolding in Minnesota’s streets, leaders of the state’s largest companies chose to call for restraint, calm, and cooperation.

Thestatement from more than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies – including household names like Target, Best Buy, 3M, General Mills, and Land O’ Lakes – is a model for how corporate America can demonstrate clear-eyed community leadership worthy of their companies’ legacies and our country.

In recent weeks, tensions in Minnesota have risen to extremely concerning levels, increasing the chances of more tragic loss of life. On Saturday, a man was killed in a confrontation with U.S. border patrol agents in the second high-profile shooting of a Minnesota resident this month.

Meanwhile, death threats against ICE agents and immigration enforcement, already up more than8,000%, are escalating as increasingly aggressive protestersgrow bolder and more willing to endanger officers’ lives. Each time these groups meet on the street, the country holds its breath.