Ben & Jerry’s declared Friday that “black lives matter.”
“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 Vermont-based ice cream company said in a lengthy statement on its website.
Black Lives Matter. Choosing to be silent in the face of such injustice is not an option. https://t.co/6Vy0KHJeKU #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/pK96teLRhd
— Ben & Jerry’s (@benandjerrys) October 6, 2016
“Systemic and institutionalized racism are the defining civil rights and social justice issues of our time,” it said. “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.”
“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,” it added. “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.”
“But we do believe that — whether Black, brown, white, or blue — our nation and our very way of life is dependent on the principle of all people being served equal justice under the law. And it’s clear, the effects of the criminal justice system are not color blind,” the company said.
Ben & Jerry’s added that it does not place blame on individuals officers, but rather “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,” the company concluded.
Reaction has been mixed since Ben & Jerry’s promoted the statement heavily on its Twitter and Facebook accounts. Many people have said they will be boycotting the company, but others say they will be buying extra to offset those who do.
