I’ve long been of the mind that my own soul is derived from within me, has been and continues to be written—and revised—on a daily basis, by my own hand and my own actions. Each of us is every day given an opportunity to write that soul story, which I take to mean the expansion of the feeling of whatever it is that my heart is capable of feeling. To feel more, not less, despite the hardening that inevitably comes from daily living.
It pained me to read Tom Horner’s criticism of the prevailing public sentiment in our state and largest cities—our collective criticism and my specific commentary in the Star Tribune—and of the need for Minnesota’s business leaders to do more.
Horner’s reply was well-balanced and thoughtful in a “well now, hold on, what about this?” cover-all-your-bases kind of way. He saved his harshest criticism for when he suggests that “public vitriol” isn’t the measure by which we should judge the words of business leaders in “today’s world.” Vitriol: cruel and bitter criticism.
Horner says the most important line in the CEO letter is the “revelation that Minnesota’s business community ‘For the past several weeks… has been working every day behind the scenes … to advance real solutions.’”
A few weeks? A few weeks? A few weeks. This has been an ongoing and accelerating crisis for years. This is a president who uses racism to accumulate power, who refers to immigrants and people of color as garbage, as a people whose very blood is poisoned, as rapists and thugs and killers, painting them all with the same brush.
A generation ago, Horner says, CEOs might have actually taken a stand, but now they can’t because they run public companies with global sales and operations.
Horner absolves CEOs of their responsibility through a defense of moral mediocrity, suggesting that because Minnesota is, after all, only the headquarters of these conglomerates—that most of their revenue is generated elsewhere—that we should give them all a break. The thought being, I dunno, that maybe they are all writing stronger letters in California, or Texas, where they earn more profits, and posting those more strongly worded PR notes for the chambers of commerce in those states to publish? Maybe it is those letters that take an actual stand? Or is it because these corporations are in fact everywhere, that the dissolution of their responsibility too is just as distributed—a little here, a little there… and none really anywhere at all, in the end.
Everyone of a certain age and life experience has or should have seen or heard Martin Luther King Jr.’s quote that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Those with even a silhouette of a soul, one lit by even the dimmest of candles, must recognize this to be among the truest truths spoken by a soul that once shone like the sun.
I sometimes wonder whether the problem with our capacity for love in our world is that for some of us the extension of that love beyond the borders and safety of our own homes, beyond our own blood, is so restricted by fear that it seems impossible to extend. We lock our doors and sit in our suburbs and read about and confirm our fears in the news rather than venture out and face them with our own eyes. We stay safely within our own careers, our “networks.” We defend only those we identify as our people.
It may be that CEOs will only act when the threat becomes real enough that it could be their blood in the street, but of course by then the blood will have become too thin, the bravest of it having already spilled, and only a privileged few remain to continue to do nothing with no one left to hear their excuses, their moral mediocrity leading us all precisely nowhere.
And so as Horner suggests, I have read “what the letter says.” I evaluated it.
Then I rewrote it.
You can view it below, at the Change petition “Rebuild Minnesota immigrant communities and businesses,” and at the GoFundMe campaign created for the same purpose.
An open letter from more than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies promises to rebuild Minnesota’s immigrant communities and small businesses impacted by ICE
The business community in Minnesota prides itself in providing leadership and solving problems to ensure a strong and vibrant state. Understanding this, there are ways for us to come together to foster progress.
Today, we are committing the profits from our 2026 sales within the state of Minnesota to the rebuilding of our immigrant businesses and communities. We should have taken stronger action, not just words, and we should have done so sooner—much sooner. For that, we are truly sorry.
We therefore pledge to make all small businesses and individuals in Minnesota impacted by our lack of action against ICE and this federal administration not only 100% whole, but to put them on far better footing than when these immigration raids began in earnest—on Jan. 20, 2025—so that they may continue to weather this storm for the remaining three years of this administration’s term. Collectively, we commit to donating at minimum $100 million toward this effort.
We furthermore invite all of Minnesota, as well as individuals and businesses around our great nation to commit to this fund.
We will make this right and regain your trust. We are with you, Minnesota. We are with all of you—not just the wealthy and powerful.
Every voice counts. This is ours. Join us.
~Signed by the same signatories of this letter
Give to the GoFundMe campaign or donate directly to charities at Standwithminnesota.com
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