GEICO Car Insurance to Pull Advertisements Away from Glenn Beck Program

GEICO will no longer run ads during Beck’s show, joining Lexis-Nexis, Proctor & Gamble, Progressive Insurance and SC Johnson in distancing themselves away from the fool known as Glenn Beck. Read more about the initiative and sign the petition here.

For Immediate Release
August 10, 2009

Insurance Company Joins Lawyers.com, Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance and SC Johnson in Distancing Themselves from FNC Anchor

OAKLAND, Calif.--Adding to a growing list of advertisers distancing themselves from controversial Fox News personality Glenn Beck, GEICO has pledged to re-direct their advertisements away from Beck's program on the Fox News Channel. The decision by GEICO comes on the heels of announcements made last week that LexisNexis-owned Lawyers.com, Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance and SC Johnson were distancing themselves from Beck after the news host called President Obama a "racist" who "has a deep-seated hatred for white people."

"On Tuesday, August 4, GEICO instructed its ad buying service to redistribute its inventory of rotational spots on FOX-TV to their other network programs, exclusive of the Glenn Beck program," said a spokesperson for GEICO Corporate Communications in an email to ColorOfChange.org. "As of August 4, GEICO no longer runs any paid advertising spots during Mr. Beck's program."

"We applaud GEICO and all of the other companies who have stepped forward to pull their ads from Glenn Beck," said James Rucker, executive director of ColorOfChange.org. "Beck's rhetoric is dangerous to the fabric of our democracy, and we are heartened that so many big companies feel the same way. We won't stop here -- we're going to continue our fight to see that as many of Beck's advertisers pull their support as possible."

Two weeks ago, ColorOfChange.org called on its 600,000-plus members to sign a petition urging companies who advertise on Glenn Beck to cut off their advertising support of his work. More than 75,000 members responded to the call by signing a petition directed at advertisers.

Last week, ColorOfChange.org received confirmation from LexisNexis that they pulled their ads from Beck and have no plans to advertise on the program in the future. Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance and SC Johnson called the Beck advertising placements an error that they would correct.

Reach out to the sponsors of race baiting rhetoric

Remember the “Concert for Hurricane Relief”? It was a live telethon and concert, that was produced by NBC News. The live broadcast was run on NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC. Kanye West was paired with comedian Austin Powers (Mike Myers) and was not scheduled to perform, but to read from a script prepared by the network. The segment began with Myers speaking on the devastation of Katrina. Then Kanye, who was looking hella nervous, departed from his script and said (in short):

“…blah, blah, blah… George Bush don’t care about Black people.”

The network cut Kanye’s comments about Bush from their west coast feed and quickly distanced itself from him. Kanye’s basis for his comment – all of the black folks left stranded in squalor after Hurricane Katrina.

Compare that to Glen Beck stating that Obama has:

"…over and over again" exposed himself as "a guy who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture. I don't know what it is..." "…I'm not saying he doesn't like white people, I'm saying he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, is a racist."

Glenn Beck’s overt racism rages on over at Fox News unabated. Beck’s basis for his comments – none. Obama is half white, raised by white folks, has a white sister, uncles, etc... and basically loves him some white people (see the Kennedys). Beck’s comments are so incendiary, so extreme, so stupid, that Glenn Beck clearly needs an intervention.

Reach out to Beck through his advertisers. Tell them it's past time for an intervention. Encourage them to drop sponsorship of the Glenn Beck race baiting rhetoric. Do it for Glenn, sign the petition here.

Fear of complexion in "post racial" America

Okay, I'm am going to say this again: This is the 21st Century, Barack Hussein Obama is the President of the United States, we are supposed to be "post-racial". However, proof continues to mount that we are anything but.

ColorOfChange.org thinks the Department of Justice needs to take a closer look and they are asking for our help...

Here’s the message ColorOfChange.org is sending to members right now:

Two weeks ago outside Philadelphia, sixty-five children from a summer camp tried to go swimming at a club their camp had a contract to use. Evidently, the club didn’t know the kids were largely Black.

When the campers entered the pool, White parents took their kids out of the water, and the swimming club’s staff asked the campers to leave. The next day, the club told the summer camp that their membership would be canceled and that they would refund their money. When asked why, the club’s leader said the kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club.”

A “Whites only” pool in 2009 should not be tolerated. The club’s actions appear to be a violation of section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act. Whether or not any laws were violated, a “Whites only” pool should be something every American condemns.

Please join us in doing exactly that, and please email your friends and family and invite them to do the same. Your signature will also be used to call on the Department of Justice to evaluate suing the facility under federal law. It takes just a moment to do both, here:

http://colorofchange.org/swim/

Obama is President but that doesn’t mean that suddenly all is fine when it comes to race in America. This is a vivid reminder of what we know still lies beneath the surface.

We all know stories like this one — similar incidents play out quietly every day in different communities across the country. The difference in this case is that folks got caught and there was a contract in place that makes for a potentially illegal act.

Standing up now isn’t just about making things right for these kids in Philadelphia or bringing consequences to this swim club (called the Valley Swim Club). It’s about creating a climate of accountability everywhere. If we can publicly shame the Valley Swim Club and hold them accountable for this incident, it will make others think twice before engaging in this kind of discrimination.

Please join us in condemning the Valley Swim Club’s blatant discrimination and calling on the Justice Department to investigate whether they violated civil rights laws. And please ask your friends and family to do the same.

http://www.colorofchange.org/swim/

Thanks and Peace,

– James, Gabriel, William, Dani and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
July 9th, 2009

Plea deal in Jena 6 case

ColorOfChange.org applauds plea deal in Jena 6 case
Online civil rights group raised more than $275,000 for legal defense

Oakland, CA- The organization that led the online mobilization in support of the Jena Six today applauded news that five of the young men have pleaded no contest to greatly reduced charges--a development the group called a just resolution to the racially-charged case. Though the defendants had initially been charged with attempted murder and conspiracy, they ultimately pleaded no contest to simple battery, and will serve a sentence of just 7 days of probation.

ColorOfChange.org said Friday that the plea deal marked an acknowledgement by officials that the Louisiana justice system initially treated the then-teenage boys too harshly, privileging white students' accounts of a schoolyard fight over those of black students in the largely segregated town of Jena.

"Today's plea deal shows that the original charges in the case were unfair and vastly overblown," said James Rucker, ColorOfChange.org's executive director. "The story of the Jena 6 was an extreme example of what can happen when a justice system biased against black boys operates unchecked. But it's also an example of what can happen when hundreds of thousands of people across the country stand up to challenge unequal justice. Together, we drew the country's attention to this case and raised the money necessary to fund a strong legal defense."

ColorOfChange.org, the first national organization involved in supporting the Jena 6, was instrumental in drawing national attention to the case, working alongside local activists in Jena and black bloggers across the country to spread word of the excessive charges and the story behind them.

More than 300,000 ColorOfChange.org members signed petitions to elected officials, urging that the charges be dropped and that then-Governor Kathleen Blanco intervene. The group organized more than 10,000 of its members to march in Jena on September 20, 2007. The same day, thousands of members in over 150 cities across the country held rallies and vigils and distributed flyers about the case; they also made more than 6,000 phone calls to public officials in Louisiana.

ColorOfChange members also contributed more than $275,000 toward high-quality legal teams, which succeeded in getting a biased judge removed from the cases and ultimately achieved today's victory.

Rucker said that the collective effort--joined by bloggers, black radio personalities, and national and Louisiana-based activists--turned the tide in favor of the young men.

The sixth teenager charged, Mychal Bell, pleaded guilty to battery in juvenile court on December 3rd, 2007.

With more than half a million members, ColorOfChange.org is the largest African-American online political organization in the country.

Note Worthy: The NAACP and many other civil rights organizations were not the driving force for the Jena 6. The NAACP originally raised only $20,000, $10k of which was from David Bowie. Black bloggers and their readers, black radio personalities, activitists, and Color of Change made the difference for the Jenna 6.