Throughout 2020, countless companies issued statements on racial inequality in the United States. However, many of these same companies are complicit in slavery in China or the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is increasingly clear that the U.S. must once more stamp out slavery wherever it resides.
In its “2020 List of Goods Produced by Child or Forced Labor,” the Department of Labor lists some forty countries that use forced labor, many in conjunction with child labor. This is not a short list. The products and countries listed include diamonds from Angola, electronics and clothing from Malaysia, pornography from Russia, carpets and textiles from India, and tungsten and tin ore from the DRC. The most shocking perpetrator of forced labor, though, is that of China.
Forced Labor in China Continues Unopposed
China’s forced labor produces artificial flowers, Christmas decorations, footwear, clothing, hair products, and tomato products, which are then shipped worldwide. Through a combination of child labor and forced labor, the country also produces cotton, electronics, textiles, and toys. Just glancing over this foreshortened list, it’s clear that countless American firms are implicated in the trade of slave-produced goods.
More specifically, the Department of Labor estimates that some 100,000 Uighurs—a predominantly-Muslim ethnic minority that lives in the Xinjiang region in Northwest China—may be working in conditions of forced labor following their detention in “re-education” camps. Many Uighur workers are believed to have been forcefully transported by the Chinese state to other provinces to work, often under the guise of “poverty alleviation.” The Chinese government also subsidizes companies that move to Xinjiang or “employ” Muslim workers, which only encourages their exploitation.
“Save Uighur”—a project managed by the Chicago-based organization Justice For All—claims that some 83 companies internationally make use of Uighur forced labor. Too many of these companies are U.S. companies, including Abercrombie & Fitch, Calvin Klein, Cisco Systems, General Motors (G.M.), L.L. Bean, Nike, The North Face, Polo Ralph Lauren, Skechers, and Victoria’s Secret.
Over the course of 2020, Abercrombie & Fitch, Calvin Klein, Cisco, General Motors, L.L. Bean, Nike, The North Face, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Victoria’s Secret issued statements about racial inequality in the United States. To be clear, every company listed above as benefitting from forced labor in Xinjiang—except Skechers—issued a statement against racial injustice in 2020. Every statement emphasized the need for equity, the importance of safety for all people, and the responsibility each company was assuming to address racial injustice. Apparently, these companies’ promises to combat inequality are only applicable within the United States.
Nike’s statement on racial injustice is representative of the sum. In its statement this summer, Nike’s CEO John Donahoe promised that Nike would “educate [itself] more deeply on the issues faced by Black communities and understand the enormous suffering and senseless tragedy racial bigotry creates.” The statement goes on, stating that Nike “[believes] in a level playing field for all and leveraging the power of sport and [its] brands to move the world forward.”
Nike’s statement also touts the company’s “Impact Report.” While the report states that the company strictly prohibits “forced, bonded, prison or indentured labor,” the report does not state how many incidents or reports there were of forced labor in FY2019. Instead, under the heading “Forced Labor,” there is a chart entitled “Voluntary-Labor Related Findings,” which reports a dozen reported cases over the past four years. The one incident in FY2019 —as explained in a footnote—was a failure to acquire work visas in Indonesia. Uighurs and the Xinjiang region are not mentioned in Nike’s report in any capacity. But in the end, why would any company report their own use of forced labor?
Meanwhile, other companies operating in China have also failed to condemn the activity in Xinjiang. Some—such as Disney—have even worked with the local government that is perpetuating the atrocities.
Tech Companies Fail to Investigate Suppliers in the DRC
The elaborate, decentralized supply lines of cobalt ore make tracking abusive practices in the DRC difficult. However, this is not an excuse for complacency and ignorance
In 2019, International Rights Advocates—an organization which represents those that cannot afford legal representation—filed suit against Apple, Tesla, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Dell. The suit—filed on behalf of 14 families from the DRC—alleges that the five corporations were complicit in forced child labor that resulted in death or injury.
All of these alleged injuries or deaths occurred while mining cobalt ore, a metal essential for rechargeable lithium batteries. The DRC is the source of over half the world’s cobalt, and an estimated 30% of its cobalt is mined by child labor. The five companies defended themselves, arguing that the distance between their operations and the source of their materials is too tenuous for legal action to be brought against them.
Cobalt mining is particularly difficult to address, given the complex supply chains that bring it from the earth to the hands of electronics companies. 15–30% of the DRC’s cobalt mining is decentralized among small-scale, “artisanal” mining companies. Amnesty International reports that the cobalt is largely acquired by the Chinese firm Huayou Cobalt, which produces batteries that end up in many electronics and electric vehicles. Amnesty International states that combatting exploitative practices in the cobalt mining industry requires companies to follow these supply chains all the way back to their source—which, while obviously difficult to do, is no less necessary.
To evaluate each company’s diligence in reducing the use of unethically acquired cobalt, Amnesty International developed a scale in 2017 that ranges from “no action taken” to “all possible action taken.” No companies were listed as having taken “all possible action.” Apple was the only company in the aforementioned list that was seen as taking “adequate” action. Dell and Tesla were ranked under “moderate action taken,” while Microsoft fell under “no action taken.” Additional companies, such as Sony, G.M., and Chrysler, fell under “minimal action taken.” Alphabet was not included in the report.
However, as before, each of these companies issued statements over the course of 2020 stating their commitment to addressing racial inequality in the United States. Despite operating in nearly a dozen countries, Microsoft’s statement on racial inequality—posted to the official company blog—states that it will “improve the lives of Black and African American citizens across our country” (emphasis added). Michael Dell reportedly wrote that “the key lesson [of this summer] was the need to create space for tough conversations, have greater leadership accountability, and take actions to help drive positive socio-economic change for communities of color.” Tesla begrudgingly made Juneteenth an unpaid holiday, under threat of protest from its employees. Sony tweeted that it will “work towards a future marked by empathy” and released a free BLM PlayStation 4 theme. The CEO of Google Sundar Pichai published a piece to The Keyword in which he outlined the reforms Google would implement, including “[establishing] a range of anti-racism educational programs that are global in view and able to scale to all Googlers.” In a statement entitled “Speaking Up on Racism,” Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote that “[w]hile our laws have changed, the reality is that their protections are still not universally applied.”
The U.S. Must Ramp Up Action
Admittedly, the U.S. government has not remained completely inactive on these issues, but additional measures to combat slavery must be implemented.
On December 31, 2020, the U.S. government banned imports of palm oil from a Malaysian company after an investigation indicated abuse, including “physical and sexual violence, restriction of movement, intimidation and threats, debt bondage, withholding wages and excessive overtime.” The investigation further asserted that this problem was systemic, occurring on a number of plantations across Malaysia.
Likewise, on January 13, 2021, the U.S. banned cotton and tomato imports from Xinjiang, China, due to reports of the use of forced labor. In imposing the ban, the U.S. followed similar actions made by Canada and Britain. However, NGO’s are now calling for further bipartisan action to combat forced labor in the region.
The Uighur Forced Labor Prevention Act is the logical next step in combatting slavery. The bill, which passed the House of Representatives in December 406-3, would ban enumerated goods from the Xinjiang region unless a company can prove their goods were not produced using forced labor. Many corporations, including Coca-Cola, Apple, and Nike lobbied for changes to this bill, though they’ve objected to claims that they are seeking to “water [it] down.” Their claims remain unconvincing, given that a recent report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute estimates that some 80,000 Uighurs have been forcibly moved throughout China to work in factories, including those which supply Amazon, Apple, and Nike.
Much less action has been taken to address abuses in the DRC. In 2018, the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, a division of the Department of Labor, offered a $2.5 million grant to an organization that could provide a plan to help the DRC in its efforts to combat human trafficking, forced labor, sex slavery, and child labor. In a 2019 report from the Department of Labor, however, the DRC was found to be taking inadequate measures to combat all of the above issues.
The most saddening aspect of this article is how much information had to be left out. Many of the companies mentioned in this piece also exploit children abroad, as child labor and forced labor are a malicious pairing. The examples above are but a fraction of the picture. The International Labor Organization estimates that there are some 24.9 million people working under conditions of forced labor.
Further action by the U.S. government to combat slavery is imperative. The above actions are good first steps, but they fail to fully resolve the problem. And even more welcome than government intervention—which is inevitably slow—would be the voluntary divestment of U.S. firms from regions and companies that use forced and child labor. Their involvement abroad is a deep betrayal of America’s core values, and an “out of sight, out of mind” attitude is evil on its face.
*The views expressed in this article solely represent the views of the author, not the views of the Chicago Thinker.
Holy shit, this is actually a solid take. I’m unsure whether or not to send to one of the accidentally left wing accounts
Your last article sucked, but this one’s actually pretty good. I don’t have much else to say lol
also raise your character limit
This is a surprisingly good article. Well done, and this is coming from a dirty commie. Rainbow capitalism needs to be called out for the cynical ploy that it is.
Good for you. I’ve always respected honest socialists,even honest Communists.
75 years ago, pretty much all Liberals, Socialists US Communists would take coal miners side striking against Peabody Coal Company, now pretty much all American Lib Leftists and Communists HATE American coal miners in r states like West Virginia and Kentucky – and the miners, real WORKERS know this, that’s why they vote for Trump an dNixon.
The American Liberal Left got captured by New York/LA/Hollywood type like Norman Lear, Rob the Meathead Reiner in the 1970s. And Now Michael Moore & Harvey Weinstein.
These endless Neo Conservative wars in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Serbia even Crimea Russia seem to go on and on and it doesn’t matter if Republicans or Demorats are in the White House. Honest Liberals and Communists oppose them
https://artoffarstar88.wordpress.com/2018/09/02/mike-the-moor/
Big fan of this, Matthew!
Character minimum character minimum character minimum character minimum.
Holy shit, this is actually a solid take. I’m unsure whether or not to send to one of the accidentally left wing accounts
Your last article sucked, but this one’s actually pretty good. I don’t have much else to say lol
also raise your character limit
This is a surprisingly good article. Well done, and this is coming from a dirty commie. Rainbow capitalism needs to be called out for the cynical ploy that it is.
Good for you. I’ve always respected honest socialists,even honest Communists.
75 years ago, pretty much all Liberals, Socialists US Communists would take coal miners side striking against Peabody Coal Company, now pretty much all American Lib Leftists and Communists HATE American coal miners in r states like West Virginia and Kentucky – and the miners, real WORKERS know this, that’s why they vote for Trump an dNixon.
The American Liberal Left got captured by New York/LA/Hollywood type like Norman Lear, Rob the Meathead Reiner in the 1970s. And Now Michael Moore & Harvey Weinstein.
These endless Neo Conservative wars in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Serbia even Crimea Russia seem to go on and on and it doesn’t matter if Republicans or Demorats are in the White House. Honest Liberals and Communists oppose them
https://artoffarstar88.wordpress.com/2018/09/02/mike-the-moor/
Fuck off.
Character limit character limit character limit. Character limit character limit character limit.
Big fan of this, Matthew!
Character minimum character minimum character minimum character minimum.
Yes, Agreed. It’s extremely hypocritical for American Lib Leftist Demorats to be mouthing off 24/7 about racial injustice here in the USA/The west and tearing down any and all statues of leaders of Western Civilization from Robert E Lee, to Christopher Columbus to even Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas all for some alleged sins of racism and slavery that supposedly happened 150 years ago, but these same PC Libs are silent about forced labor, slavery now.
It’s very similar to the Hollywood Left, Gary Trudeau Doonesbury Demorat Left that bashes American GOPs, Conservatives for being “Racist, Sexist, Homophobic, Xenophobic” but gives free pass to the worst Islamists who throw gay people off of roofs and make women wear burka tents and ban women from speaking or showing their faces in public.
We made this cartoon featuring Hollywood and Michigan Lib Leftist lunatic Michael Moore showing this hypocrisy.
https://artoffarstar88.wordpress.com/2018/09/02/mike-the-moor/
So here’s the thing, when “bruh” commented on “Marxism: An Insidious Threat To Public Health” that these cartoons you keep linking to are Nazi dogwhistles and you blew it off, he was, uh, correct.
Here’s the start of the About page of artoffarstar88: “Farstar88 is a Fascist artist from South Africa.”
Here’s the only reader comment on that page: “You’re artwork is very professional, Farstar88. As the American author of the white nationalist novel, “Hold back this day” (a tale that is set in a future South Africa about one hundred years from now) I have often wondered if having a full comic book version of it would be successful.”
Here’s Farstar88’s response: “Hi Ward, Pleased to have made your acquaintance. I have not heard of your work but will now definitely look it up. I do believe such a graphic novel concept could be highly successful.”
Here’s a link to Farstar88 publicizing his cartoons on Stormfront.org, whose banner reads “White Pride World Wide. Every Month is White History Month.” https://www.stormfront.org/forum/t1256459/
Here’s a link to Farstar88’s cartoon on a site called “The Best of White Nationalism”: https://bestofwn.wordpress.com/2009/01/24/farstar88s-cartoons/
Here’s Farstar88’s discussion board on Caste Football, a website dedicated to rooting exclusively for white athletes: http://castefootball.us/index.php?threads/farstar88.36606/
Here’s you writing under a different surname linking to these cartoons in the comment section of a different website: https://www.hpherald.com/news/local/armed-robbers-strike-in-two-separate-incidents-thursday-afternoon/article_84a42062-ff86-11ea-b5d5-83e2e6380a2a.html
You clearly read these cartoons all the time, showing yourself to be either one of the most astoundingly unintelligent people on Earth, or a white nationalist. I guess I’d prefer the former?
Here’s a link to Farstar88 publicizing his cartoons on Stormfront.org, whose banner reads “White Pride World Wide. Every Month is White History Month.” https://www.stormfront.org/forum/t1256459/
Here’s a link to Farstar88’s cartoon on a site called “The Best of White Nationalism”: https://bestofwn.wordpress.com/2009/01/24/farstar88s-cartoons/
Here’s Farstar88’s discussion board on Caste Football, a website dedicated to rooting exclusively for white athletes: http://castefootball.us/index.php?threads/farstar88.36606/
Here’s you writing under a different surname linking to these cartoons in the comment section of a different website: https://www.hpherald.com/news/local/armed-robbers-strike-in-two-separate-incidents-thursday-afternoon/article_84a42062-ff86-11ea-b5d5-83e2e6380a2a.html
You clearly read these cartoons all the time, showing yourself to be either one of the most astoundingly unintelligent people on Earth, or a white nationalist. I guess I’d prefer the former?
Yes, Agreed. It’s extremely hypocritical for American Lib Leftist Demorats to be mouthing off 24/7 about racial injustice here in the USA/The west and tearing down any and all statues of leaders of Western Civilization from Robert E Lee, to Christopher Columbus to even Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas all for some alleged sins of racism and slavery that supposedly happened 150 years ago, but these same PC Libs are silent about forced labor, slavery now.
It’s very similar to the Hollywood Left, Gary Trudeau Doonesbury Demorat Left that bashes American GOPs, Conservatives for being “Racist, Sexist, Homophobic, Xenophobic” but gives free pass to the worst Islamists who throw gay people off of roofs and make women wear burka tents and ban women from speaking or showing their faces in public.
We made this cartoon featuring Hollywood and Michigan Lib Leftist lunatic Michael Moore showing this hypocrisy.
https://artoffarstar88.wordpress.com/2018/09/02/mike-the-moor/
So here’s the thing, when “bruh” commented on “Marxism: An Insidious Threat To Public Health” that these cartoons you keep linking to are Nazi dogwhistles and you blew it off, he was, uh, correct.
Here’s the start of the About page of artoffarstar88: “Farstar88 is a Fascist artist from South Africa.”
Here’s the only reader comment on that page: “You’re artwork is very professional, Farstar88. As the American author of the white nationalist novel, “Hold back this day” (a tale that is set in a future South Africa about one hundred years from now) I have often wondered if having a full comic book version of it would be successful.”
Here’s Farstar88’s response: “Hi Ward, Pleased to have made your acquaintance. I have not heard of your work but will now definitely look it up. I do believe such a graphic novel concept could be highly successful.”
Here’s a link to Farstar88 publicizing his cartoons on Stormfront.org, whose banner reads “White Pride World Wide. Every Month is White History Month.” https://www.stormfront.org/forum/t1256459/
Here’s a link to Farstar88’s cartoon on a site called “The Best of White Nationalism”: https://bestofwn.wordpress.com/2009/01/24/farstar88s-cartoons/
Here’s Farstar88’s discussion board on Caste Football, a website dedicated to rooting exclusively for white athletes: http://castefootball.us/index.php?threads/farstar88.36606/
Here’s you writing under a different surname linking to these cartoons in the comment section of a different website: https://www.hpherald.com/news/local/armed-robbers-strike-in-two-separate-incidents-thursday-afternoon/article_84a42062-ff86-11ea-b5d5-83e2e6380a2a.html
You clearly read these cartoons all the time, showing yourself to be either one of the most astoundingly unintelligent people on Earth, or a white nationalist. I guess I’d prefer the former?
Here’s a link to Farstar88 publicizing his cartoons on Stormfront.org, whose banner reads “White Pride World Wide. Every Month is White History Month.” https://www.stormfront.org/forum/t1256459/
Here’s a link to Farstar88’s cartoon on a site called “The Best of White Nationalism”: https://bestofwn.wordpress.com/2009/01/24/farstar88s-cartoons/
Here’s Farstar88’s discussion board on Caste Football, a website dedicated to rooting exclusively for white athletes: http://castefootball.us/index.php?threads/farstar88.36606/
Here’s you writing under a different surname linking to these cartoons in the comment section of a different website: https://www.hpherald.com/news/local/armed-robbers-strike-in-two-separate-incidents-thursday-afternoon/article_84a42062-ff86-11ea-b5d5-83e2e6380a2a.html
You clearly read these cartoons all the time, showing yourself to be either one of the most astoundingly unintelligent people on Earth, or a white nationalist. I guess I’d prefer the former?
So here’s the thing, when “bruh” commented on “Marxism: An Insidious Threat To Public Health” that these cartoons you keep linking to are Nazi dogwhistles and you blew it off, he was, uh, correct.
Here’s the start of the About page of artoffarstar88: “Farstar88 is a Fascist artist from South Africa.”
Here’s the only reader comment on that page: “You’re artwork is very professional, Farstar88. As the American author of the white nationalist novel, “Hold back this day” (a tale that is set in a future South Africa about one hundred years from now) I have often wondered if having a full comic book version of it would be successful.”
Here’s Farstar88’s response: “Hi Ward, Pleased to have made your acquaintance. I have not heard of your work but will now definitely look it up. I do believe such a graphic novel concept could be highly successful.”
So here’s the thing, when “bruh” commented on “Marxism: An Insidious Threat To Public Health” that these cartoons you keep linking to are Nazi dogwhistles and you blew it off, he was, uh, correct.
Here’s the start of the About page of artoffarstar88: “Farstar88 is a Fascist artist from South Africa.”
Here’s the only reader comment on that page: “You’re artwork is very professional, Farstar88. As the American author of the white nationalist novel, “Hold back this day” (a tale that is set in a future South Africa about one hundred years from now) I have often wondered if having a full comic book version of it would be successful.”
Here’s Farstar88’s response: “Hi Ward, Pleased to have made your acquaintance. I have not heard of your work but will now definitely look it up. I do believe such a graphic novel concept could be highly successful.”
The artist is a talented White African. He’s marketing his work in ways to get attention. It’s not what I would do, but hey – ours are free countries….
NOT!
This Mike Moore cartoon was mine. It shows the truth that too many PC Lib Leftist Demorats in Hollywood and elsewhere take the side of 8th Century radical Islam – why do they do this? Answer – they’re idiots, but their idiotic hypocrisy works for them and others who want a soft easy life in the media, academia etc.
I’m glad to see some talented young people here at U Chicago Thinker daring to present the truth as they see it. I’m doing the same.
We haven’t given up our 1st, 2nd and 4th and 5th Amendment rights yet and we’re not going to do so just because someone calls us some names. I was a 7th grate public school teacher in Brooklyn 1986-87. I’ve been called a lot of names. We’re not backing down like the worst Cuckservative RINOs such as Utah Sen. Mittens Romney do all the time.
NOPE.
Of the “83 companies” referenced above there are a lot of companies related to golf. I’m a long time golfer.
PGA, USGA, LPGA, NCAA, etc., are on TV everyday, 24/7/365; even have their own Golf Channel. Golf has big numbers of golf publications and YouTube exposure.
Maybe you should ask the golf equipment companies, ruling bodies, The Golf Channel’s Michael Breed, to man up and take an actual stand.
If anyone has a list companies making golf equipment, shoes, clothing, etc., not associated with slave labor I for one would like to have it, just so I can adjust my purchases.
Of the “83 companies” referenced above there are a lot of companies related to golf. I’m a long time golfer.
PGA, USGA, LPGA, NCAA, etc., are on TV everyday, 24/7/365; even have their own Golf Channel. Golf has big numbers of golf publications and YouTube exposure.
Maybe you should ask the golf equipment companies, ruling bodies, The Golf Channel’s Michael Breed, to man up and take an actual stand.
If anyone has a list companies making golf equipment, shoes, clothing, etc., not associated with slave labor I for one would like to have it, just so I can adjust my purchases.
Yeah, OK. But I think it’s a mistake to focus on what any slightly Conservative national media have noticed you. I think the many talented Chicago Thinker writers should concentrate on local (U Chicago, Hyde Park, Chicago) subjects. There is lots to see and lots to write about here and frankly there is very little as in NO intelligent Conservative, Libertarian or just honest writing about crime, quality of life, culture here in our community.
How about writing on the subject of the Obama Foundation stealing a big chunk of our Lakefront Jackson Park?
How about writing about Chicago’s out of control crime, complete with exploding car jackings? 2020 saw over 4,000 shootings and 792 murders in Chicago. Nobody is really writing about who’s doing the shootings and killings. The National Lib Media is either completely ignoring Chicago murder and mayhem or insisting that it’s somehow still Trump’s fault or racist White guys that wear MAGA hats and attack Black gay actors like Jussie Smollet at 3 Am when the temperature is -10 F.
All of our neighborhood/Chicago’s crime victims have personal stories – can’t the Chicago Thinker start to tell some of these stories?
There is room for both IMO. All politics is local. Call out the local injustices and cancellations. The black on black murders of children ….not with AR15’a but with illegal pistols by felons!
But dont loose the big picture as well…we can walk and chew gum at the same time!
Agreed and well said. Still, I think there is a huge opportunity to have some intelligent, principled writing about U Chicago, Hyde Park Chicago, Chicago Chicago crime, culture, politics from an honest.. what should we call it? Conservative? Nah? Libertarian.. maybe a bit, but not too much. Traditionalist? What tradition? How about just some honest commentary about… well, math? Orwell said worst to the effect: “Freedom begins with the ability to say 2 + 2 + 4. Once that is achieved all else follows” Well, here in Chicago we could definitely use some honest reporting about basic math. Yeah, I know “MATH IS RACIST”. F#&$&# that sh**.
This is a great website to see what Big Tech and Companies like Amazon, Google and many others are doing to cancel and censure free speech, it details the money that is being put into various channels to fund.
Fact checkers being funded by Soro’s and Google and other left wing orgs..
https://censortrack.org/
Remember the Civil War was fought over two differing types of economies, the industrial north and the agrarian south, and along with the south was the issue of slavery.
The southern democrats fought for slavery. Fact.
The southern democrats lost the civil war. Fact.
The southern democrats did not like that loss. Fact.
Even thought they lost this civil war for hundreds of years after they did everything they could to keep black people out of politics and power….
The southern democrats formed the KKK. Fact.
The southern democrats instituted literacy tests to keep blacks from voting. Fact.
The southern democrats instituted Poll Taxed to keep blacks from voting. Fact.
Many blacks today do not really understand the history of the democrat party and people like Richard Byrd using the N word in Congress.
Truthful education, seminars, speeches, outreach to communities about the real truths of democrats and what the have done has to be taught.
Fight the Good Fight with Words and Deeds!
Ron, I would assume that this comment is meant to portray the Democratic party as anti-Black. However, this ignores the historical reality that social and policy priorities within political parties change over time. In the 1950s, the Republican party ran a “pro-union” platform. Can you point to examples of how Democrats today are anti-Black? If we’re specifically using the Civil War and Confederates as an example, the political bodies that have promoted the removal of Confederate monuments are largely liberal and controlled by Democrats. Resistance to the removal of such monuments has largely come from Republicans.