Many Think Ben & Jerry's "Dismantle White Supremacy" Is The Only Good Brand Response

By Matt
12456 views
• Published 4 years ago

Published 4 years ago

"Ben & Jerry's" ice cream is no stranger to advocating for social change. Last year, the company released a flavor called "Justice Remix'd," an insane combination of cinnamon bun dough and spicy fudge brownie that benefited the Advancement Project National Office, which supports prison reforms. The flavor comes about four years after the company publicly stated their support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

So it's not too surprising that they had something to say on the topic of the death of George Floyd, who died in police custody after a former officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Yesterday, the company tweeted a link to their statement, "We Must Dismantle White Supremacy," a nuanced response from a multi-million dollar company that's rarely seen on brand Twitter.

"The murder of George Floyd was the result of inhumane police brutality that is perpetuated by a culture of white supremacy," they write in the statement available on their website. "What happened to George Floyd was not the result of a bad apple; it was the predictable consequence of a racist and prejudiced system and culture that has treated Black bodies as the enemy from the beginning."

"What happened to George Floyd in Minneapolis is the fruit borne of toxic seeds planted on the shores of our country in Jamestown in 1619, when the first enslaved men and women arrived on this continent. Floyd is the latest in a long list of names that stretches back to that time and that shore. Some of those names we know -- Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Oscar Grant, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Emmett Till, Martin Luther King, Jr. -- most we don’t."

The company goes on to offer clear action items that they believe will help "dismantle white supremacy in all its forms." These include calling on the President, elected officials and political parties to "commit our nation to a formal process of healing and reconciliation" and passing H.R. 40, a piece of legislation "that would create a commission to study the effects of slavery and discrimination from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies." They also call for a bipartisan task force "aimed at ending racial violence and increasing police accountability;" and calling on the Department of Justice to "reinvigorate its Civil Rights Division as a staunch defender of the rights of Black and Brown people."

It's certainly a bit heavier than, say, the Washington Redskins posting a black square on Twitter.

Unlike the Redskins response, which really didn't go over well, the Ben & Jerry's response is being praised throughout Twitter.

Ben and Jerry's political sentiments went viral less than two months ago when they released a statement on cannabis justice on April 20th, aka 420.

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