Last week, the founder and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg warned the company’s employees to desist from defacing the Black Lives Matter slogan posted on the walls of the company’s headquarters and replacing it with ‘All Lives Matter, but the racist staff refused to heed to his warning.
Now, in a strong-worded memo he sent to his staff (which was leaked to the media by Gizmodo), Zuckerberg has strongly warned employees off silencing the voices of the oppressed, adding that the act is ‘unacceptable.’
Mark Zuckerberg is mad at Facebook employees who censor Black Lives Matter slogans By Ukamaka | February 26, 2016 1 Comment
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Last week, the founder and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg warned the company’s employees to desist from defacing the Black Lives Matter slogan posted on the walls of the company’s headquarters and replacing it with ‘All Lives Matter, but the racist staff refused to heed to his warning.
Now, in a strong-worded memo he sent to his staff (which was leaked to the media by Gizmodo), Zuckerberg has strongly warned employees off silencing the voices of the oppressed, adding that the act is ‘unacceptable.’
“I was already very disappointed by this disrespectful behavior before,” Zuckerberg said in the terse memo. “But after my communication I now consider this malicious as well…This has been a deeply hurtful and tiresome experience for the black community and really the entire Facebook community.”
He then set out to educate them on why the movement, which started after the murder of Trayvon Martins, matters. “Black lives matter’ doesn’t mean other lives don’t — it’s simply asking that the black community also achieves the justice they deserve,” Zuckerberg said. “Crossing out something means silencing speech, or that one person’s speech is more important than another’s.”
Read the full memo:
“There have been several recent instances of people crossing out ‘black lives matter’ and writing ‘all lives matter’ on the walls at MPK.
Despite my clear communication at Q&A last week that this was unacceptable, and messages from several other leaders from across the company, this has happened again. I was already very disappointed by this disrespectful behavior before, but after my communication I now consider this malicious as well.
There are specific issues affecting the black community in the United States, coming from a history of oppression and racism. ‘Black lives matter’ doesn’t mean other lives don’t — it’s simply asking that the black community also achieves the justice they deserve.
We’ve never had rules around what people can write on our walls — we expect everybody to treat each other with respect. Regardless of the content or location, crossing out something means silencing speech, or that one person’s speech is more important than another’s. Facebook should be a service and a community where everyone is treated with respect.
This has been a deeply hurtful and tiresome experience for the black community and really the entire Facebook community, and we are now investigating the current incidents.
I hope and encourage people to participate in the Black@ town hall on 3/4 to educate themselves about what the Black Lives Matter movement is about.”
CNN reports that they contacted the company’s representative who confirmed the memo, but would not state if anyone has been disciplined for it.
Source: CNN, Gizmodo
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