A group of black faith leaders in Georgia are targeting Home Depot — which has its headquarters in the state — and calling for a boycott of the company because it refuses to publicly criticize Georgia’s new voting law.
The Home Depot was founded in 1978. In 1979, co-founders Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank, who are both Jewish, opened the first two stores in Atlanta, Georgia, where the company’s headquarters are still located. The Home Depot Foundation has donated over $200 million to various causes, including Habitat for Humanity and the City of Hope National Medical Center, and offers the U.S. military community a 10% discount. Since 1993, the “Team Depot” program has given grants to veteran-based organizations and has worked with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency’s Ready Georgia campaign to aid emergency preparedness among Georgia’s children.
Bishop Reginald T. Jackson, who supervises 534 African Methodist Episcopal churches in Georgia, stated, “We don’t believe this is simply a political matter. This is a matter that deals with securing the future of this democracy, and the greatest right in this democracy is the right to vote.” He claimed Home Depot “demonstrated an indifference, a lack of response to the call, not only from clergy, but a call from other groups to speak out in opposition to this legislation.”
According to The New York Times, Jackson insisted The Home Depot take certain actions, including “speaking out against the Georgia voting law, publicly opposing similar bills in other states, offering support for the John Lewis Voting Rights Act in Congress, and backing litigation against the Georgia law.”
The Rev. Timothy McDonald III echoed, “This is not just a Georgia issue; we’re talking about democracy in America that is under threat. We’ve got to use whatever leverage and power, spiritual fortitude that we have, including our dollars, to help people to understand that this is a national campaign.”
The threat to boycott has prompted blowback online, including from prominent attorney Harmeet Dhillon, Fox News host Laura Ingraham and Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro:
If I could buy my freakin’ GROCERIES at @HomeDepot, I would. Georgia Faith Leaders to Urge Boycott of Home Depot Over Voting Law https://t.co/Qzik2ZwNy0
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) April 20, 2021
Who else is going to Home Depot today? Tweet pics buying stuff in line! https://t.co/eb9Phhkemo
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) April 20, 2021
Fine, only shopping at Home Depot from now on https://t.co/qtpDR6GWxn
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) April 20, 2021
So they picked Home Depot, the company founded by Jews, to boycott. Of course, they did.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) April 20, 2021
Wouldn’t it be great if Home Depot was rewarded for staying out of politics by large crowds and higher sales figures?
Don’t let bullies acting on bad information win. https://t.co/F57udSw1Ly
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) April 20, 2021
In July 2019, some critics of Home Depot vowed to launch a boycott of the company after it was revealed that Bernie Marcus, who had directed virtually all of his $6 billion to charity after his death, said some of his money would fund former President Trump’s re-election campaign.
“He’s got a businessman’s common sense approach to most things,” Marcus said of Trump. “Now, do I agree with every move that he makes? No, I don’t. But the truth is he has produced more than anybody else. He has. If we look at this country, I would say that we are better off today than we were eight years ago or six years ago.”
Marcus warned about socialism in April 2019, saying, “I want to start by saying something politically incorrect. I love America, I do. I love America because it’s the greatest country in the world. I think there are two big reasons why this country is so great. The first is our Constitution which guarantees our freedom of speech and expression. The second is our free market system. The free market system has been the biggest creator of wealth and prosperity the world has ever known, lifting billions of people out of poverty and far more superior than any government program could ever be. The free market is the tool that allows money to reach out and grab hold of the American dream.”
Marcus added, “It pains me to see people in this country glorifying socialism. Young people especially have been indoctrinated into believing that free enterprise is immoral because it enriches the greedy and depresses the poor.”
“Even the word capitalism is not politically correct to use, but the reality is that the free market system has created the biggest middle-class population in the world and while some may say socialism is well-intentioned, the fact is it robs people of their independence, their dignity, and their finances leading to government dependence, suppression of ideas, and lower standards of living for those under its thumb,” he added.