Columbia Sportswear's Tim Boyle Takes on Racisim

For the second time in 13 months Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle has publicly blasted the Trump administration for its immigration policies.

In recent speeches and tweets, Trump has fiercely attacked four members of Congress, all of whom are liberal Democrats and women of color. One of the four, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, is a Somali immigrant. The three others were born in the United States.  Trump’s attack prompted a Charlotte, N.C. crowd last week to begin chanting “Send her back, Send her back”.

“I saw the news that the President of the United States had been using Twitter to tell some members of Congress to go back to the countries they are “from” Boyle wrote. “That kind of taunting language is far more extreme than the refusal to process a routine visa application, but there is a theme through both that should be unacceptable in any organization and certainly at the top of our government.”

Boyle reminded his staffers that Columbia exists today as one of the state’s largest private companies only because his mother, Gert Boyle, found refuge and welcome after fleeing Nazi Germany in 1937.

 “We understand, from personal experience, what it means when government leaders demonize any group as being inferior, unworthy, and fundamentally unwelcome to be a part of a country,” Boyle wrote. “We were incredibly fortunate to be able to move to the great state of Oregon. The ideals in the U.S., while not perfectly executed, supported the notion that we would have the same opportunities as others, and we feel strongly about paying that forward.”

“Telling any citizen to “go back home” is offensive,” he wrote. “This is home."