In Kate Bradshaw's Almanac article, ("Facebook
unveils plans for giant new development in Menlo Park," July 7: https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2017/07/07/facebook-unveils-plans-for-giant-new-development-in-menlo-park) her
statement, "Facebook has been expanding its land holdings, office space
and workforce in Menlo Park at a breakneck rate," is one that I agree
with. Oftentimes, a
mantra in the technology industry is: "Move fast and build
things." But in my opinion, when
tech companies build or expand, there should be ethics involved. One way this can be done is via creating a
corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy.
In October (2016), I wrote an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg (http://writetoliveblog.blogspot.com/2016/10/an-open-letter-to-mark-zuckerberg.html),
asking the corporation to consider the negative impacts of their expansion
(into Belle Haven) on my hometown of East Palo Alto (EPA) and consider what
it means to be a “good neighbor” (Luke 10).
Since that time, Facebook has given $20M for affordable housing to EPA
due to community pressure, the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative has donated $2M to
help aid EPA’s water shortage (partly because without it the construction of
their pre-school in EPA would be delayed), and both entities have donated
abundantly to nonprofit organizations which serve EPA and Belle Haven –
historically under-resourced communities.
In this ongoing discussion of the #TechTakeover (with Facebook
expanding into phase II in Belle Haven and Amazon now expanding its second-leg
of development in EPA), some contend that millennials such as myself should be
disregarded on this topic because we are simply “anti-development.” While we are not saying that underserved
communities don’t deserve to be developed, we are insisting that development should not result in the displacement of
families (property values rise and often push low-income residents out
of their communities) or the extinction of
communities of color overtime -- therefore, the expansion of any corporation
should have limits.
(Photo credit: Pinterest; Residents protesting negative impacts of gentrification in Brooklyn, NY & East Palo Alto, CA)
Spokespeople from Facebook have come forward
and stated that they want to do their part in being a good neighbor. It is my position that this can be done
through Facebook crafting a corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy (e.g.
see Sullivan principles). That way, they
can continually and intentionally stitch the thread of being a good neighbor
into the fabric and culture of a corporation that exists within a capitalistic
society. The policy wouldn’t only place
limitations on the tech giant’s expansion, it would list the ethics/values
which govern that expansion. If Facebook doesn't create a CSR policy, the
alternative is that we expect corporations to be socially responsible on their own.
(Reverend Leon Sullivan, author of Sullivan principles: http://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/sullivan-principles/)
Beyond my letter, I started to wonder what justice looks like,
larger than monetary donations (although these can be helpful). I asked myself, ‘Is Facebook willing to question
its values as a corporation in regards to growth and “connecting the world,” write
a CSR policy and take a hard look at what justice looks like tangibly, here in
Silicon Valley, starting with EPA and Belle Haven communities?’ I sure hope so.
Dr. King writes it this way:
“A true revolution of values will soon
cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present
policies. On the one hand we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s
roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see
that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not
be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway.
True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that
an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”
#TechTakeover #Amazon #Facebook #EastPaloAlto #HousingCrisis #SiliconValley
This post is dedicated to Reverend Leon Sullivan, Rhonda Rhea Byrd, M.Div., JD & Howard University Professor, Dr. Harold Dean Trulear
This post is dedicated to Reverend Leon Sullivan, Rhonda Rhea Byrd, M.Div., JD & Howard University Professor, Dr. Harold Dean Trulear
