When Shopping My Values Becomes Political

Deborah L. Plummer, PhD

FEBRUARY 17, 2020 - 4 MINUTE READ

While driving home recently, I heard a radio advertisement on SirusXM announcing 60% off digitizing services. It got my attention. We were planning to resurrect an egg hunt for our family gathering on Easter and my adult godson had been relentlessly bugging me to get some old tapes of family gatherings digitized. He was coming from Georgia to celebrate the holiday and wanted to watch the videos and laugh at his younger self with his wife and three sons.

Later that evening, I remembered the advertisement and its soon-to-expire discount and went online to check out the website. I read through the reviews that gave testimony to the company’s high quality service. I read the bios of the owners who had met in college and were roommates. The business had received a financial jumpstart through Kickstarter, a platform through which I had donated in support of a number of creative projects. It was all very impressive. I decided to send 10 tapes for digitizing. After completing the transaction, along with the receipt came the following request:

One more thing, where did you first hear about us?

Social (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.)

Radio: Rush Limbaugh

Radio: Kidd Kraddick

Radio: Other

Podcast: Ben Shapiro

Podcast: Dax Shepard

Streaming Audio (Pandora, iHeart, Spotify, etc.)

SirusXM

Friend

Direct Mail

Online Advertisement

Search Engine (Google, Bing, etc.)

Home Shopping Network (HSN)

TV Advertisement

Deal Site

Blog

Other (please specify)

They had me at “Radio: Rush Limbaugh.” Physiologically, I felt my stomach contract while mentally I tried to figure out how to cancel my order. In my workshops I recommend first taking a deep breath when faced with the tensions inherent in effectively managing diversity. So, I did just that. During that long, purposeful pause, I revisited the website—this time with an eye for unpacking any social loadings I might have missed that would suggest the business didn't hold inclusive values.

In the light of that end query, I now placed everything about the business in the context of conservative, far-right ideology. The owners (two white men) had attended a Christian college. I now assumed that the college was far-right Evangelical Christian. My assumptions went further and I assumed intolerance towards racial minorities, LGBTI individuals, immigrants, and those who believe in a liberal democracy that holds individual rights and popular will as its foundation. I realize that these assumptions paint with a very large brush. I may be wrong in assuming them, but left unchecked, that is the way that the mind works and how we quickly make judgments. I also assumed that the young entrepreneurs were good people and that the college they attended espoused many of the same values that I hold; yet, all of these positive assumptions were placed in doubt because of the company’s marketing choices. That is reality.

Rush Limbaugh’s radio show was listed in a prominent position on the list of advertising options. Not being part of Rush’s listening audience, I assume that the company’s target audience did not include me. I believe I am right on that assumption. I have never listened to Rush Limbaugh but mainstream media relays numerous video clips allowing me to hear Rush’s racist remarks from his own voice. Trump awarded Rush Limbaugh with the President’s Medal of Freedom. I find it reprehensible that a prominent racist is the recipient of such an honor especially because Rush Limbaugh is unapologetic in his racist rhetoric. Why would I buy services from a company that supports Rush Limbaugh?

Likewise, I dismiss any cravings to buy a spicy chicken sandwich from Chick- fil-A because of their long history of donating to charities with anti-LGBT stances. My not buying the one or two spicy chicken sandwiches a year, will definitely not hurt Chick-fil-A. In fact, the national boycott, unearthed many who shared Chick-fil-A’s position and purchased even more chicken sandwiches, with or without any cravings. Personally, I would rather stand in solidarity with the LBGTI community than have a spicy chicken sandwich.

I’ve also tossed my MyPillow, along with thousands of others, when the CEO of the company declared Trump as “chosen by God to run the country.”  That was an easy toss as I already found the pillows too lumpy. But more importantly, it felt good to toss the pillow because I believe that if you are a Trump supporter, you share his racist values—maybe not to the degree of a White supremacist, but certainly in its modern form of passive tolerance for those who espouse discriminatory beliefs or practices. MyPillow still thrives as a business and thousands of Americans sleep peacefully at night on those pillows. But, to paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King, there will be no rest or tranquility in America until every American is granted full civil rights.

In the end, I didn’t cancel my order to have my tapes digitized, but I won’t be sending the next set of tapes to that company or recommending it to others no matter how good the quality and service. If I canceled my order and provided my reason, I doubt that it would stop them from advertising on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show. They would probably just make sure that Rush knew of my reason for the cancellation and get themselves some free advertising. That, of course, is an assumption. In my dream reality, they would of course, be enlightened by this blog post and cease all advertising on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show and any other media hosts who espouses racist values.

Shopping can be a political act and an important avenue for affecting social change. Individually, if we shop those businesses that demonstrate inclusive values and practices, we establish a society where everyone matters. Collectively, if we vote for elected officials who can translate equity into legislation and policy, we just may be able to “get to we” and a more inclusive and equitable society.

To join the conversation, visit my blog and website https://www.dlplummer.com/getting-to-we-blog