From tomorrow's paper:
Microsoft is now under fire for its lack of support on equal rights for blacks. For years, the company had touted its embrace of equal rights for its black employees and customers as a sign of how progressive and forward looking the company was. But key elements of the Civil Rights Voting Act are set to expire in 2007 and Microsoft has quietly switched its stance from supporting renewal to "neutral."[FYI - This is a parody, though only barely.]
Critics say Microsoft is caving in to pressure from an evangelical preacher. (Evangelical groups have a centuries-long history of opposing equal rights for women, blacks, gays, non-Christians and Christians who don't interpret the Bible the same way they do.) Microsoft admits it met with the evangelical preacher but insists that had nothing to do with its change in stance.
The preacher says differently. "I threatened them with a national boycott of their products and they backed off, " says the preacher who doesn't represent any national group but insists Microsoft has "a lot" of white employees who find the company's stance on equal rights for blacks offensive.
According to several Microsoft employees, the company's general counsel met with a group of black employees and told them about the company's switch. Apparently, it was presented as "good news, bad news." The "good news" was that Microsoft was really going to resist the pressure it was getting to fire the employees who had testified as private citizens in support of renewing the Civil Rights Voting Act. "We are NOT going to fire anyone at this time," the general counsel reportedly said. The "bad news" was that their right to vote was toast.
Ironically, Microsoft has received numerous awards over the past ten years for its active support of equal rights for blacks. A Microsoft spokesperson was asked, "Isn't equal rights for all Americans (not to mention all customers and employees of Microsoft) a core value for the company?
"No, not really," said the spokesperson. "It was just good pr."
