Neither love nor terror makes one blind -- indifference makes one so and corporate companies are making it crystal clear that in the wake of the dehumanising death of George Floyd in Minnesota as they choose not to remain silent 'indifferent' bystanders.
On the official blog of CITI Group, the CFO of the company, Mark Mason, posted a touching post about Floyd's death.
“'I can't breathe' were Floyd's last words, and he had said them at least ten 'as a police officer kneeled on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. While Three other officers stood by and WATCHED,” read Mason’s post.
"Even though I'm the CFO of a global bank, the killings of George Floyd in Minnesota, Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky are reminders of the dangers Black Americans like me face in living our daily lives. Despite the progress the United States has made, Black Americans are too often denied basic privileges that others take for granted. I am not talking about the privileges of wealth, education or job opportunities. I'm talking about fundamental human and civil rights and the dignity and respect that comes with them," wrote Mason.
He, however, is not the only one to condemn the death of Floyd. As demonstrators thronged the streets of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, and many other cities of the United States, despite a pandemic at large, to protest against police violence on African Americans, and chanted slogans of 'Black Lives Matter', corporates too extended their support on social media platforms.
Online streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu and Youtube wasted no time in addressing the issue.
"We stand in solidarity against racism and violence. When members of our community hurt, we all hurt. We’re pledging $1M in support of efforts to address social injustice," said Youtube's Twitter post.
Netflix took to Twitter to say, "To be silent is to be complicit. Black lives matter. We have a platform, and we have a duty to our Black members, employees, creators, and talent to speak up."
Besides, Amazon Studio and HBO took to Twitter to express their support to the African American community.
According to a report in American Banker, JPMorgan Chase's Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon and Brian Lamb, the bank's newly appointed diversity chief, wrote a memo that was circulated among the company's US employees on Friday, addressing Floyd's death, and declaring their commitment to fighting racism.
"Let us be clear — we are watching, listening and want every single one of you to know we are committed to fighting against racism and discrimination wherever and however it exists," the memo said.
Memos and emails were also sent to the staff of Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. Another media report claimed that a similar memo was received by the employees of Paramount Pictures on May 30 that said, "As a nation, our heartbreak and outrage are not enough. The fabric of our society, the founding promise that all men are created equal, is broken, and it is the responsibility of all of us to raise our voices and be part of the solution."
According to Deadline, the new CEO of Warner Media, Jason Kilar, also sent an internal memo that said, "I want to be very clear in saying that our responsibility to the Black community is that we truly listen, that we seek understanding, and that we do these things with as much empathy as possible. In no uncertain terms, we as a company are firmly in support of people that suffer injustice, including our own."
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