Jeff Bezos is not budging on his belief that, yes, Black Lives DO Matter, no matter how outraged some Amazon customers may be about his stance. On Friday (June 5th), the certified richest man alive took to Instagram to issue a public response to an email he received from Macy, a woman who had recently visited the Amazon website and was disappointed to see a banner that read, "Black Lives Matter."
In the email, Macy, whose last name has been omitted, begins her correspondence by indicting that she found it "quite disturbing to get on the AMAZON website and see 'BLACK LIVES MATTER.'" She then explains why she finds this offensive. "You provide services to more than millions of people," she noted. "Including my self and the rest of my family for our business needs and personal purchases. I am for everyone voicing their opinions and standing up for what you believe in, but for your company to blast this on your website is very offensive to me and I'm sure you'll be hearing from others. ALL LIVES MATTER!"
She finished the email with a question for Jeff: "And if it wasn't for all these lives providing their service to you and your company, where would Amazon be today?" Jeff shared his response in the next slide, which begins by telling Macy, "I have to disagree with you."
"'Black lives matter' doesn't mean other lives don't matter," he wrote. "Black lives matter speaks to racism and the disproportionate risk that Black people face in our law enforcement and justice system. I have a 20-year-old son, and I simply don't worry that he might be choked to death while being detained one day. It's not something I worry about. Black parents can't say the same. None of this is intended to dismiss or minimize the very real worries you or anyone else might have in their own life, but I want you to know I support this movement that we see happening all around us, and my stance won't change."
He finished the post with a screenshot of the Amazon website, which includes a message that reads, "Amazon stands in solidarity with the Black community."
