Last week, the state of Georgia led by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, passed one of the nation's most restrictive voting bills, designed to suppress minority voting. The bill imposes new voter identification requirements for absentee ballots, limits the use of ballot drop boxes, and - wait for it - makes it a crime to give food or water to people waiting in line to vote.
No wonder President Biden called it Un-American.
While it may be part of a national trend - Republican
lawmakers in more than 40 states have introduced more than 250 bills to
restrict voting, Georgia appears to have gone a step too far. (Blake, 2021)
This weekend on Twitter, calls went out to Coca-Cola asking them to announce that they will supply Dasani water to all Georgia voters; while support for #BoycottGeorgia which targets Coca-Cola, Delta, Home Depot, AFLAC and UPS trended. (Romero, 2021)
Golf's Master Tournament, scheduled to begin next week and Major League's Baseball's All Star game scheduled for July are also being pressured to move/cancel. (Moore, 2021)
So what is Gen Z making of all this?
Gen Z is more racially and ethnically diverse than previous generations. Only 52% are White. 29% are Hispanic, 14% are Black, 6% are Asian, and 5% identify as Other, which includes mixed race. Roughly two-thirds of Gen Z say that Blacks are treated less fairly than Whites in this country. (Parker & Igielnik, 2020)
Gen Z showed up to vote in 2020. Turnout among voters 18-29 rose from 46.5% in 2016 to 54.5% in 2020. (Siddiqui & Ngo, 2020)
And, 53% of Gen Z say they have purchased a brand/product to show support for the issues the brand supported. An additional 23% said they would consider doing so. While 40% have stopped purchasing if the company stands for something or behaves in a way that doesn't align with their values. And an 27% would consider joining them. That's 67% willing to boycott under the appropriate circumstances. (Hessekiel, 2018)
So will Gen Z boycott Coca-Cola, Delta, Home Depot, AFLAC and UPS? Will they choose not to live in a state that actively fights against their beliefs? Or will practicality outweigh activism much as it does when they keep reordering from Amazon despite its anti-union stance?
Blake, J. (2021, March 28) Georgia Republicans made two big mistakes when they attacked voting rights. cnn.com. Retrieved March 29, 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/28/politics/voting-rights-georgia-souls-polls-blake/index.html
Romero, D. (2021, March 26) Calls for economic boycott grow after Georgia adopts voter restrictions. nbcnews.com. Retrieved March 29, 2021, from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/calls-economic-boycott-grow-after-georgia-adopts-voter-restrictions-n1262241
Moore, T. (2021, March 29) Sports world should boycott Georgia over racist voting law. cnn.com. Retrieved March 29, 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/29/opinions/georgia-voting-restrictions-sports-moore/index.html
Parker, K. & Igielnik, R. (2020, May 14) On the Cusp of Adulthood and Facing an Uncertain Future: What We Know About Gen Z So Far. pewresearch.org. Retrieved March 29, 2021, from https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/05/14/on-the-cusp-of-adulthood-and-facing-an-uncertain-future-what-we-know-about-gen-z-so-far-2/
Siddiqui, S. & Ngo, M. (2020, November 26) Young Voters Helped Biden Beat Trump After Holding Back in Primaries. wsj.com. Retrieved March 29, 2021, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/young-voters-helped-biden-beat-trump-after-holding-back-in-primaries-11606399200
Hessekiel, D. (2018, June 26) Engaging Gen Z In Your Social Impact Efforts. forbes.com. retrieved March 29, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhessekiel/2018/06/26/engaging-gen-z-in-your-social-impact-efforts/?sh=1f2d93066499
5 comments:
I think Gen Z will live wherever there are jobs. Atlanta will still be a hub for business and young professionals will have to travel there for high paying jobs. Think if you live or go to school in the southeast. You have New Orleans, Charlotte, Nashville and maybe Raleigh for high end paying jobs, especially corporate jobs. Then you have all the trickle down that happens when people accept those jobs and live in the area. High property values, more spending, etc.
It's sad what Georgia lawmakers passed, we should make it easier to vote. The only way that this would affect people working in the state was if they allowed permanent work from home. Then you might see an exodus. But even then people are going to go where the work is regardless of voting rights.
I guess Gen Z will boycott any brands that are against their beliefs and some will move to other states as well if they can’t stand with their governor. When I see Gen Z’s social activity online, they are more aggressive than any other generations. I feel even it’s different with millennials. They are more active than millennials. This week I saw the interesting news about fashion brands Telfar and Guess. The story was the Guess stole Telfar’s embossed shopping bag logo design for their new bag, and Telfar’s customers accused the brand Guess about imitating design and boycotted. The Telfar is a Brooklyn-based small young brand. And the founder is a Black designer, and his main customers are Gen Z. People call Telfar bag as Gen-Z’s first It-Bag or ‘Bushwick Birkin’. His supporters can’t ignore Guess’s knocking off of their lovable bag. One of their fans said Guess “blatantly disregarded a Black queer man, rather than enter into a design deal, they just stole.” Backlash in social media continuously has increased. As a result, Guess apologized and pulled the bags off from its shelves this week. In this case, the interesting part to me is how Gen Z people are honest and active. When I was in high school, many fashion brands imitated luxury brands’ designs as cheaper version. My friends and I actually enjoyed about I can wear a similar luxury design at an affordable price. I did not have any guilt about it and I didn’t aware it was wrong. But this kind of behavior doesn’t make sense anymore for Gen Z. I think Gen Z’s ‘cancel culture’ is a good trend, and it will make companies act more honestly. -Hanjo Mok-
Reference
https://www.forbes.com/sites/allysonportee/2021/03/30/copy-or-healthy-competition-guess-pulls-g-logo-tote-after-public-outrage-that-the-bag-is-likened-to-telfars-shopping-bag/?sh=1759c236495f
I do believe that it is likely that Gen Z will boycott companies such as Coca-cola, Delta, Home Depot, AFLAC, and UPS. Gen Z is passionate about social issues and has proved to display action toward their beliefs on many of these issues. Additionally, the products from these companies are an easy target for them to consciously refrain from using. However, I feel that is less likely for Gen Z members to completely move out of a state where the politicians are against their beliefs. It seems that because they are advocates for social change they would want to stay where inequality is taking place, and actively attempt to fight against it to be a part of implementing a change in ideologies within that state. Lastly, I think that it is much more difficult for Gen Z to boycott a company like Amazon because they have a close connection with it. Many of the Gen Zers grew up using Amazon their entire lives and do not know anything different. The company is integrated within Gen Z's cultural fabric. Additionally, Gen Z mainly utilizes online ordering of products and it would be extremely difficult to use a totally different means of purchasing goods over the long term.
As an Atlanta native, I was very disappointed to hear about the new laws aimed at voter restriction. While I think some companies like Coca-cola may be too big to fail (particularly if their consumers are in favor of voter suppression), I do think many of these companies will take a hit if they do not make their core values known as Gen Z is more aggressive about boycotting brands for ethical reasons than their predecessors. I would not be surprised if we see more companies start to shift resources out of Georgia like the MLB who moved the all-stars games.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/02/us/mlb-all-star-game-moving-atlanta-spt/index.html
I do believe that Gen Z is a generation that will actively stand up for their beliefs. Boycotting companies such as Coca-Cola, Delta, Home Depot, AFLAC and UPS is something that Gen Z could do. But I do not believe that they will move to another state if their current state fights against their beliefs. I think they will come out and protest but it is hard to make those big decisions just base on belief, because Gen Z are still young adults that are in school or just graduated from college. It is hard to make those big decisions when they are not financially independent.
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