A group of protesters hold a banner reading “Black Voters Matter” and a quote from Allen v. White at the Alabama Statehouse on May 4, 2026, in Montgomery, Alabama. (Photo by Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
The Congressional Black Caucus on Tuesday called on American businesses to condemn efforts to weaken the power of Black voters as Southern states eliminate congressional districts where most residents are Black.
The CBC’s attempt to mobilize the business community comes at a time when Black representation in Congress faces perhaps its greatest threat since the end of Reconstruction after the Civil War. But some business leaders have adopted a friendlier tone toward President Donald Trump, who supports gerrymandering.
A U.S. Supreme Court decision in April in a case called Louisiana vs. Callaissignificantly weakened the federal Voting Rights Act, which had prevented states from splitting majority-minority districts. It restricted the utilize of race in redistricting, which resulted in several Southern states being redistricted to advance modern cards It targets those districts that are overwhelmingly held by black Democrats.
“These actions are not routine political exercises,” the letter said. “This is a coordinated effort to silence Black voices at the ballot box and strip communities of representation in American democracy.”
The message is aimed at more than 200 companies and business groups that have signed up a letter from 2021 in support of voting rights, as well as an unnamed number of other business leaders. Signatories included Amazon, Apple, Cisco, Facebook, Intel, Microsoft, Nike, PepsiCo, Starbucks, Target, Tesla and Unilever USA.
The letter called on Congress to update the Voting Rights Act, including changes that would restore the federal government’s ability to review changes to election and voting laws in states and local governments that have a history of discrimination, a practice called preclearance that the Supreme Court effectively ended in 2013.
On Tuesday, the CBC said those companies should make individual or joint public statements opposing efforts to weaken Black voting power and dismantle protections in the Voting Rights Act.
Lawmakers also want companies to report on corporate political spending and relationships related to attacks on voting rights and “discriminatory redistribution programs.” Companies should accept an invitation to attend a national meeting with civil rights leaders and advocates to discuss voting rights and Black political power, the lawmakers wrote.
The letter asks companies to respond by June 9th.
“Five years ago, companies across America publicly affirmed that democracy, racial equality and voting rights matter. Today, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Callais decision, those commitments are being tested in real time,” Rep. Yvette Clarke, a New York Democrat who chairs the CBC, said in a statement.
“Companies that have profited from Black consumers, relied on Black workers and profited from Black communities cannot remain silent while Black political representation is dismantled in plain sight,” Clarke said. “Silence in this moment is not neutrality – it is complicity.”
Business leaders are balmy toward Trump
But political attitudes in parts of the American economy, particularly among technology companies, have changed since 2021.
When companies signed the July 2021 letter, they were acting in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis in May 2020 and the storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021. Six years later, some giants of the American economy have taken a more conciliatory stance toward Trump and the Make America Great Again movement.
Elon Musk, who leads Tesla, led the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) initiative in 2025 that led to the layoffs of thousands of federal employees. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has spoken positively about the president. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos called Trump “more mature” in his second term.
Trump has also led a push against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. The president signed it in March an implementing regulation targeted DEI practices of federal contractors. The instruction followed another Anti-DEI order in January 2025, which encouraged the private sector to “end illegal DEI discrimination and preferences.”
Since the Supreme Court’s Callais decision, some Republicans have portrayed the elimination of majority-minority districts as a constitutional necessity. The current districts should be thrown away because they were marked because of their race, they say.
“I don’t think race should be used to help a person because of their race, and I don’t think race should be used to harm a person because of their race,” Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, said at a Senate hearing on racism last week.
Fast reassignments
Since the Callais decision was released April 29, Florida and Tennessee have changed their maps, and Louisiana is expected to follow suit soon. South Carolina legislator tried but failed to advance a modern map, and Alabama has taken steps to implement a gerrymander for 2023 after the Supreme Court overturned a lower court order that had blocked it.
A panel of three federal judges issued a modern order on Tuesday Stopping Alabama Mapwhich, if enacted, would likely oust one of the state’s two black Democratic congressmen. The judges concluded that the card itself was racially discriminatory with regard to Callais.
Alabama has filed an appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
“I applaud the three-judge panel for upholding the rule of law and reaffirming that racial discrimination has no place in our redistricting process,” Rep. Terri Sewell, an Alabama Democrat who also signed Tuesday’s CBC letter, said in a statement.
“While we know this litigation is far from over, today’s ruling sends a clear message: Black voters in Alabama cannot and will not be silenced.”
