On Tuesday Adidas said 30 per cent of all its new hires in the US would be Latino or Black people following the anti-racism remonstration that have hit the country for almost two weeks.
Kasper Rorsted, Adidas CEO said “The events of the past two weeks have caused all of us to reflect on what we can do to confront the cultural and systemic forces that sustain racism”.
The death of George Floyd kindled many ongoing protests against police brutality and anti-black racism.
There has been criticism from Adidas employees for not contributing to fight racial discrimination.
For the next four years, the German-based group has announced to raise to $20 million funding for its programs that support Black Americans – funding for the Adidas shoe design school, a basketball program for underserved communities and a program to support the black community through sports.
Adidas made a statement that “We understand that the fight against racism is one that must be fought continually and actively. We must and will do better”.
Provision of 50 scholarships for black employees each year for the next five years, Adidas promised.
During employee meetings in Portland, Oregon and Boston, more details were to be given by Zion Armstrong and Matt O’Toole, company’s US directors.
In a recent tweet, Adidas wrote “Together is how we move forward. Together is how we make change”.
Adidas retweeted Nike’s tweet recently that says, “For once, Don’t Do It. Don’t pretend there’s not a problem in America”.
Source: ghgossip.com
