After questioning Al Sharpton’s legacy as a black leader along with his non-profit Civil Rights organization the “National Action Network,” (founded by Sharpton in 1991), Byron Allen included Sharpton’s name in a lawsuit as well as the NAACP and other “black” organizations for allegedly signing “sham” diversity agreements then taking donations from major corporations like Comcast knowing the corporations were using these black “leaders” and organizations to keep quiet and to allegedly help them cover discriminatory practices.
CEO Byron Allen is proving to be quite a nightmare to the major corporations who allegedly could not buy all black folks off to keep quiet. Allen also included in his suit last year Time Warner, Comcast and AT&T. (AT&T has since settled with Allen).
The recent Oscar awards’ lack of inclusion for African Americans is and has always been just the tip of the iceberg and while other black celebrities are complaining and still begging for inclusion, CEO Byron Allen is actually stepping up to the plate and doing something about it.
The media mogul has just filed a suit against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Charter Communications for racial discrimination against African American Media.
Allen who has often been a silent yet respected brilliant businessman over the last few decades, has always gone against the grain of traditional media corporations upon realizing he was not going to be afforded the same opportunities.
“Everyone talks about diversity, but diversity in Hollywood and the media starts with ownership,” Allen states. He goes on to say that: “President Obama and the Democratic Party have completely excluded the African-American community when it comes to economic inclusion,” Allen said in a statement to TheWrap Wednesday.
The $20 billion lawsuit was filed at the Central District Court of California yesterday (Wednesday), citing Charter Communications is in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. section 1981.
The corporation, according to Allen spent 4 Billion annually without a single dollar going towards black owned media companies. The court documents filed by Allen also state that Charter Communications President and CEO Tom Rutledge is a “blatant racist.”
The suit has pristine timing before the FCC gives final approval for the acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks making Charter Communications even more dominant in the industry. Allen states that the FCC should never consider Charter Communications’ acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks because of their alleged discriminatory history. We’ll keep you posted on this story. See documents here