Opinion | To the 60-plus Minnesota CEOs: Many thanks for your nothingburger PR statement

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I imagine the statement issued by the more than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies must have gone through dozens of drafts before finally arriving as the powerful piece of writing that it was on Jan. 25. While Minnesota’s Hubert Humphrey was known for saying inspirational things like “The test we must set for ourselves is not to march alone but to march in such a way that others will wish to join us,” more than 60 business leaders came up with, if I might paraphrase, “maybe we can talk about this some more.”

These 60 leaders mentioned how they support a “strong and vibrant state,” so much so that they repeated it twice. They want to “advance real solutions” as well, with “real solutions” being something they must know about, having also mentioned these solutions without naming them three times. These are powerful words, so it makes sense they were repeated, with things like “foster progress” and “de-escalation” thrown in for good measure.

Meanwhile, on Jan. 23, tens of thousands of Minnesotans gathered in downtown Minneapolis, supported by hundreds of small-business leaders who closed their doors in support of workers — employees, human beings, Minnesotans — because they recognized that words aren’t enough right now. To my knowledge, no major corporations did so, as their nametag-at-best leaders continue to sit idle with milquetoast PR messages of nothingness. The next day, whatever goodwill was rendered bled into the frozen street on Nicollet Avenue.

Many of these leaders, especially of public companies, neatly dodge their moral responsibilities by often deferring to a “fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of shareholders.” How convenient for you.

Leadership should be recognizable by more than a nametag. I’d exhort everyone reading this and paying attention to support local and small businesses that are standing up in meaningful ways to ICE and a federal administration that keeps attacking and testing boundaries, only to come at us again and again with the next heinous attack. The administration’s goal is to make us feel small, to make us exhausted, to pick on those with fewer rights until there are none with rights left, with any humanity left.

And so yes, Minnesota CEOs, let’s de-escalate this situation — this situation where people are shot in the face repeatedly, who have nearly a dozen bullets fired into their dead bodies, their blood draining into the already dirtied snow of our streets overrun with ICE. Let’s de-escalate that, shall we, and do so vibrantly, perhaps?

Here is my message for these 60-plus CEOs: Stand up, or sit down and take off the nametag, because the Minnesotans who are standing up? We don’t recognize you.