Amazon Ditches the Conservative Public Policy Group ALEC

Amazon became the 16th company to announce that it has dropped ALEC since ColorOfChange launched its campaign targeting ALEC's corporate sponsors.

By Jorge Rivas May 25, 2012

On Thursday, online retailer Amazon announced at its shareholder meeting that it will cut ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the right-wing policy group that has worked to suppress the black vote. The announcement came as ColorOfChange, the nation’s largest black online civil rights organization, tried to deliver more than 500,000 petition signatures to the annual meeting.

In response to a shareholder’s question, general counsel Michelle Wilson said Amazon has decided not to renew its membership with ALEC.

"This year, we’ve decided not to renew with ALEC, and it’s because of positions they’ve taken not related to our business," Wilson said, according to the Seattle Times. 

Thursday’s "announcement marks a major victory for hundreds of thousands of people nationwide who have said they believe in transparency and know that ALEC threatens the ability for everyday people to participate fully in democracy," ColorOfChange Executive Director Rashad Robinson told Colorlines.com. "In deciding to part ways with ALEC, Amazon has acknowledged that it can’t in good conscience market its services to Black communities while at the same time handing over customers’ dollars to a right-wing think tank that has worked to suppress the Black vote."