Apple, Microsoft CEOs Call for End to Racism After Charleston Shooting

In the wake of last week’s shooting at a church in Charleston, S.C., that left nine dead, some voices that rarely pipe up on national issues resounded across social media: those of Silicon Valley CEOs.

Over the weekend, executives from Salesforce, Apple, Microsoft, and other tech companies took to Twitter to express condolences for the victims’ families. And some took it even further, joining some politicians to call for South Carolina to take down the Confederate flag that flies in the capital.

I agree @MittRomney: Take down the #ConfederateFlag at the SC Capitol. To many, it is a symbol of racial hatred. Remove to honor victims.

— Marc Benioff (@Benioff) June 20, 2015

Mark Zuckerberg, of course, took to Facebook to express solidarity with Charleston. “Hope can overcome hate,” he wrote. But Slack’s CEO Stewart Butterfield certainly takes the cake for being the most outspoken in the Silicon Valley bubble. Butterfield took issue with a Wall Street Journal editorial on the tragedy, which said that the shooting was not rooted in racism. This is Butterfield’s first tweet, and the rest is here.

🕛 So! I’ve had a day to let it sink in, but this preposterous @wsj editorial! http://t.co/olnPohiYgH “a problem that defies explanation”

— Stewart Butterfield (@stewart) June 22, 2015

Witness Charleston's Grief After 9 Killed in Church Race Attack