Georgia Voting Rights Activists Call for Coca-Cola Boycott

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Voting rights advocates in Georgia are calling for a boycott of Coca-Cola, one of the many corporations headquartered in Atlanta, for its unsatisfactory response to a host of repressive voting laws currently under consideration in the state Legislature. The company released a statement saying it supported a “balanced approach to the elections bills that have been introduced in the Georgia Legislature this session,” but there is no balance to be found in the sweeping elections bills that would severely impede access to the ballot box for voters of color. 

Bishop Reginald Jackson of the AME 6th Episcopal District is one of the organizers of the boycott. He pointed to Coca-Cola and other companies’ willingness to be vocal during last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality. However, when it comes to protecting voting rights for Black voters in this pivotal swing state, Coca-Cola is much quieter. Jackson said if “Coca-Cola wants Black and brown people to drink their product, then they must speak up when our rights, our lives and our very democracy as we know it is under attack.”

Other companies being pressured by voting rights activists to speak out against the legislation include Aflac, Delta Air Lines, Home Depot and UPS.