By Jade Magnus, Senior Campaign Director at Color Of Change
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Yet again, Black communities and our allies are united during a moment of unjust police violence and systemic racism. This time though, in an unprecedented move, Athletes from most sports leagues have put their careers and fame on the line to demand freedom and justice against militant and state-sanctioned violence against Black people. These athletes now serve as an excellent example of how those in powerful positions can use that power to demand change, renounce racism and protect Black people. The leagues and other major corporations need to take note.
It’s no secret that, historically, athletes who take a stand for racial justice have been berated, punished and often seen their careers ruined. Four years ago Colin Kapernick first kneeled during the national anthem, and he has been systemically punished and excluded from the league since then. Today, the NBA has plastered “Black Lives Matter” on courts and TV screens, but they have yet to divest from police, or even allow players to withhold their labor to demand change.
It’s time for the league office and team owners to take a stand and remove the strike ban in the player's contract. Help Color of Change tell NBA team owners to #LetThemStrike.
It’s no longer enough for companies to say “Black Lives Matter” without putting action behind their words. And while we’ve seen baby steps from the sports leagues, energy companies, fast food giants (like McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A and Burger King), banks and clothing companies (like Nike) all need to get in alignment with their statements in support of racial justice. And, there’s no worse actor than Facebook. Corporate statements and brand posturing is not the change Black people need. Company values or statements mean nothing unless they’re backed up by the leadership, the payroll and their internal operations.
Help Color Of Change demand companies go #BeyondTheStatement and correct the harm their policies, practices and business models cause Black employees, families and communities.
We have long warned that Facebook’s cultivation of white supremacy and hate groups on its platform is a deadly threat to Black Americans and our allies. Facebook automatically recommends hate group pages and content to those who use the platform, indoctrinating people in white nationalist ideologies and, in some cases, creating pages for new hate groups. They knowingly authorized the white nationalist militia group Kenosha Guard to use their social media platform to encourage an armed response to protests in Kenosha. In fact, Facebook not only ignored alerts about the militia, they allowed Rittenhouse’s violent and racist posts to stay up on Facebook for years without consequence — giving him a platform to incite murder after spewing violently racist rhetoric and “Blue Lives Matter” statements online.
Under Facebook policy chief Joel Kaplan's leadership, the company has intentionally permitted its recommendation tools to drive users to hate groups on the platform, demonstrating a prioritization of the protection of white nationalist voices for profit over the protection of Black people.
That’s just the most recent racial justice issue from the tech giant. More than 1,000 companies boycotted Facebook just last month, demanding the social media giant #StopHateForProfit — but after losing $7 billion in advertising profits, the company still refused to make it’s platform safe for Black people. For five years now, our organization has tried to get the tech giant to combat hate, and Mark Zuckerberg still has not reckoned with the ways his company elevates white nationalists and other hate groups — even continuing to run discriminatory ads a year after they vowed not to.
Join Color of Change in telling Facebook to immediately stop fueling white nationalist hate group recruitment.
It’s clear we need corporations to go beyond their statements. While everyday people taking collective action is powerful, we can’t allow the onus of dismantling a deep-rooted system of race-based violence and oppression to be left to Facebook users and athletic players. So, we need to use our collective power to demand large tech companies like Facebook to stop ignoring policy violations reports and enact measures that prevent white nationalists from gathering on their platform — fueling harm to their users online and in real life. And we need the NBA’s league office and the team owners to demonstrate their full-fledged support of the player’s strike by removing the strike ban, and using the wealth they’ve earned off players to finally take a stand against the anti-Black racism and discrimination that is seeped into the corporation.
Across the country — from activists to athletes — people are mobilizing by protesting against the racial injustice and police brutality that has unfolded in Kenosha. It’s past time for corporations to put power behind statements of solidarity for Black lives by choosing the preservation of Black people over profits, and committing to tangibly supporting those who are bravely demanding justice and structural change.
