The men behind the famous ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s have released a statement offering their opinion on the Black Lives Matter movement and the injustices they feel are being waged against people of color. Both Ben and Jerry have been known to be outspoken with their political views, even launching ice cream flavor themes pertaining to climate change and Bernie Sanders and going as far as being arrested during a protest. This time, the company has decided to issue a full statement on their views about the Black Lives Matter movement as well as their ice cold opinion about law enforcement and what they believe to be systematic injustices.
“Black lives matter.” the statement begins. “They matter because they are children, brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers. They matter because the injustices they face steal from all of us — white people and people of color alike. They steal our very humanity.”
The statement continues, “Systemic and institutionalized racism are the defining civil rights and social justice issues of our time. We’ve come to understand that to be silent about the violence and threats to the lives and well-being of Black people is to be complicit in that violence and those threats.”
The website then links to another page on benjerry.com titled “7 Ways We Know Systematic Racism Is Real” which outlines what they see to be evidence of systematic racism in education, the economy, the criminal justice system, and more.
The statement continues on into what feels like a therapy session, telling readers and ice cream lovers that “the first step in overcoming systemic racism and injustice is to simply understand and admit that there is a problem.”
“It’s been hard to watch the list of unarmed Black Americans killed by law enforcement officers grow longer and longer,” they wrote. “We understand that numerous Black Americans and white Americans have profoundly different experiences and outcomes with law enforcement and the criminal justice system. That’s why it’s become clear to us at Ben & Jerry’s that we have a moral obligation to take a stand now for justice and for Black lives.”
Though they point the finger at law enforcement in the previous paragraph, the company then continues on saying “We want to be clear: we believe that saying Black lives matter is not to say that the lives of those who serve in the law enforcement community don’t. We respect and value the commitment to our communities that those in law enforcement make, and we respect the value of every one of their lives.”
They verify that the finger pointing isn’t directed at individual cops but rather the institution as a whole.
“We do not place the blame for this on individual officers. Rather, we believe it is due to the systemic racism built into the fabric of our institutions at every level, disadvantaging and discriminating against people of color in ways that go beyond individual intent to discriminate.”
“All lives do matter. But all lives will not matter until Black lives matter.”
[revad2]