Ben & Jerry: 7 Ways We Know Systemic Racism Is Real

[MrScorpio]

Ever hear someone say something like, “Hey, wow, great news everybody! Racism’s over! We fixed it!” They’re genuinely excited that we elected an African-American president. They’ll tell you how the first mainstream black superhero character, Black Panther, just appeared in a big new movie. And by the way, P.K. Subban is a hockey star!

It’s hard to imagine what might be left on the end-racism to-do list, right?

Well, you might want to suggest that they not start tossing the confetti around just yet. Yeah, it seems there’s still a little something called systemic racism—and it’s real.

Racism at Every Level of Society

Systemic racism is about the way racism is built right into every level of our society. Many people point to what they see as less in-your-face prejudice and bias these days, compared to decades past, but as Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

While fewer people may consider themselves racist, racism itself persists in our schools, offices, court system, police departments, and elsewhere. Think about it: when white people occupy most positions of decision-making power, people of color have a difficult time getting a fair shake, let alone getting ahead. Bottom line: we have a lot of work to do.

Here are seven ways we know that systemic racism exists.

WEALTH



According to one study, white families hold 90% of the national wealth, Latino families hold 2.3%, and black families hold 2.6%. Not only that, the Great Recession hit minority families particularly hard, and the wealth gap has increased. Think about this: while median wealth for a single white woman in the US is $41,000, the median wealth for a black woman is $100. And for single Latinas it’s $120. That’s almost unbelievable—and it’s a huge racial-justice issue.

EMPLOYMENT



It’s next to impossible to build wealth without steady and rewarding employment. But the black unemployment rate has been consistently twice that of whites 3302-2x-unemployed.jpgover the past 60 years, no matter what has been going on with the economy (whether it’s been up or down). Hmm, maybe higher education would help with that? Well, according to the data, blacks with college degrees are twice as likely to be unemployed as all other graduates. That may be because, as one study found, job applicants with white-sounding names get called back about 50% more of the time than applicants with black-sounding names, even when they have the same exact resumes. (This seems to be a widespread problem: guests with distinctively black names even get less positive reviews from property owners on Airbnb.)

The Rest: http://www.benjerry.com/whats-new/systemic-racism-is-real

[uponit7771]

1. This: "blacks with college degrees are twice as likely to be unemployed as all other graduates."...

... is fuckin disgusting and no amount of economic equality is going to fix that

[oberliner]

2. Maybe Ben and Jerry's should relocate to a place that isn't 99 percent white people?

Maybe they shouldn't have sold out to a giant multinational corporation.

Ben & Jerry's is preferred by very high income consumers and Caucasians, according to consumer data.

Maybe if they actually had a bit more diversity and cultural sensitivity they would not have designed and marketed an ice cream flavor named after American-born basketball player Jeremy Lin with "fortune cookie pieces" ostensibly due to his parents having been born in China.

[dlwickham]

3. Pretty much

[LanternWaste]

5. It's important that companies relocate to better mollify an editorial

It's important that companies relocate to better mollify an editorial predicated on post hoc ergo prompter hoc fallacies.

[oberliner]

10. What steps have they taken as a company to combat systematic racism?

Other than posting articles on their website?

[zalinda]

15. You do know that they no longer own the company, right? eom

[oberliner]

18. Yes, they sold it to a multinational corporation

But that corporation maintained much of the domestic management structure.

[MrScorpio]

8. Actually, they're in the best place to promote this message...

Especially to those who need to hear it, such as the white majority and the white corporate power structure.

It's not like people of color don't know these things already.

[oberliner]

9. They could take concrete steps as a company to address these issues

Beyond posting articles on their website.

[MrScorpio]

11. Well, a public apology for their own biased actions as a company is a step in the right direction:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2107434/Ben--Jerrys-apologises-racist-Lin-sanity-ice-cream.html

Not to mention the fact that they have a record on activism.

http://thefeministbride.com/benandjerrys/

[oberliner]

14. Public apologies are pretty much a necessity for a company after they put out a product like that

It would've been better if someone at the company was able to see the obvious problem with the product before they actually released it.

They certainly have done a lot of activism with respect to LGBTQ issues, but nothing in that second link addresses racism in any way.

[MrScorpio]

17. It seems to me you're not going to be happy with anything they do

Even admitting that they have their own issues with systemic racism and putting their name brand behind a coherent and publishing a sincere message about the problem are major moves.

These are most likely precursors of a shift in their organizing efforts, especially since great gains on the LBGT rights front have been recently made.

Of course, they're not going to be perfect, they make ice cream, for the sake of the gods. But at least they can be informed, dedicated and engaged.

[oberliner]

19. It's not really a huge deal one way or the other

I just think that it's easy to put out articles on websites. I would be more interested in knowing what, if anything, they have done to combat the problem.

[MrScorpio]

21. The best way to combat this problem

Is for the white majority to be self-aware of how their own whiteness impacts the overall white supremacist power infrastructure, be informed on how the system operates, for and against whom, and to make a sincere to inform others.

Systematic racism is a problem for, by and of the white majority in this country. It behooves whites to tell other whites how the system operates and for them to inform each other of its problematic nature.

Of course, as I have no doubt that Ben and Jerry are informed and willing to inform others, but are capable of doing more, I don't see what's gained in castigating them. These are people who have a clear and extensive record of public activism. It seems that they're just starting out on a new stage, and are going in the right direction, as far as I can see.

It's like you're criticizing for not finishing the race when they haven't as yet rounded the first bend.

[Gormy Cuss]

12. So, you're against white people acknowledging systemic racism?

That's a winning strategy.

[oberliner]

13. No, I am in favor of that

I am more impressed with companies, though, who actually take concrete action to address those issues.

[cali]

16. Ben Cohn and Jerry Greenfield have both done far, far more good than not.

They built a business that is now a model for ethical business practices.

Your hate- yes, hate- of Vermont, is perplexing. And don't bother denying it. It's displayed in post after post after post.

And no matter how often you're corrected- you go back to it.

Your criticism of Ben and Jerry is just part of it. Perhaps you prefer Goldman Sachs as a business model.

Why even bother telling you yet again that Vermont has been changing fairly quickly over the past few decades. It is not 99% white. Vermont actively works to take in refugees from war torn regions. Has for years. This state, which you repeatedly infer is comprised of insensitive or racist white people went for Jackson. Not only did Vermonters vote for Obama overwhelmingly, they did so in greater numbers than any other state other than Hawaii- twice. I could go on, but why bother? Your bias is weird. Maybe something awful happened to you in Vermont or maybe someone from Vermont did something awful to you, but you have a real thing about it.

Oh, and you can't have it every which way. As you noted they sold the company years ago- Lin was a little kid at the time.

Ugh.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Cohen_(businessman)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Greenfield

Let me know if what you've done to fight racism measures up to what they've done.

Funny that you'd choose Ben and Jerry to bash, but it fits.

[oberliner]

20. I'm sure they have

So, if they sold the company years ago, presumably they had nothing to do with this article about institutional racism? So that message was actually sent out by the multinational corporation (Unilever) that currently owns Ben and Jerry's. So any bashing that I am doing would be directed at them, not at B&J themselves, whom I am sure are wonderful people.

Has Unilever taken steps to address institutional racism?

How many members of their executive board are non-white, for example?

[missingthebigdog]

4. Who doesn't think systemic racism is real?

I mean, other than the obvious nutjobs.

I don't see it being denied as much as I see a huge disagreement about how to fix it.

[MrScorpio]

6. Oh, you'd be surprised.

That, I'm sure of.

[missingthebigdog]

7. Probably not so much surprised

as intensely disappointed. Seems to be happening a lot lately. . . . I have clearly overestimated the intelligence, reasoning ability, sanity, and humanity of people in general.