5 Years After George Floyd Murder - Have Tech Leaders Followed Through on Promises for Racial Equality? - DINT 153
What tech leaders said then and what they're doing now
In the months after George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police officers in Minnesota, tech leaders joined many around the world in denouncing the violence and the racialized systems that gave birth to the tragedy.
Here, we look at what tech executives of the top five tech companies said back then and what they are saying and doing now to break barriers of race and gender in tech.
Amazon
CEO: Jeff Bezos
Statement Date: June 5, 2020
“We believe black lives matter. We stand in solidarity with our black employees, customers and partners, and are committed to helping build a country and a world where everyone can live with dignity and free from fear."
5 Years Later
CEO: Andy Jassy
Executive Chair: Jeff Bezos
January 10, 2025
Amazon removed all statements of support for Black people and its Black employees from its website.
Apple
CEO: Tim Cook
Statement Date: May 31, 2020
“George Floyd’s death is shocking and tragic proof that we must aim far higher than a 'normal' future, and build one that lives up to the highest ideals of equality and justice.”
Source: Apple Speaking up on racism
5 Years Later
"strength has always come from hiring the very best people and then providing a culture of collaboration, one where people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives come together to innovate."
Meta
CEO: Mark Zuckerberg
Statement Date: June 1, 2020
“The pain of the last week reminds us how far our country has to go to give every person the freedom to live with dignity and peace. We stand with the black community — and all those working towards justice in honor of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and far too many others whose names will not be forgotten.”
Source: Facebook
5 Years Later
Zuckerberg has said nothing about race relations in the last 12 months. We look to the activities of his company for indications of his mindset around racial justice.
January 7, 2025 - Zuckerberg rids all Meta platforms (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) of fact-checking
January 8, 2025 - Meta removed restrictions on hate speech from its platforms.
January 10, 2025 - Meta ends all diversity programs for hiring, retaining, and developing diverse talent in its organization.
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While Zuckerberg made no direct statements, he did make indirect ones about DEI. Here’s what he said, as reported by HR Grapevine:
“Historically, we’ve had a handful of specific programs that were very focused on certain underrepresented groups,” he said.
“The policy and legal direction on a lot of this is that you can’t do things that advantage specific groups, even if you’re trying to make up for other things.”
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Also, there’s this:
"Priscilla and I are committed to this work, and we expect to be in this fight for many years to come. This week has made it clear how much more there is to do."
Google
CEO: Sundar Pichai
Statement Date: June 3, 2020
“We’ll work closely with our Black community to develop initiatives and product ideas that support long-term solutions—and we’ll keep you updated.”
Source: Google Blog
5 Years Later
Google scraps DEI programs
This Week in Tech, Race, and Gender - DINT 141
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Google removes equity commitments from any official documents, public-facing websites.
Microsoft
CEO: Satya Nadella
Statement Date: June 5, 2020
“I take accountability for my own continued learning on the realities of privilege, inequity and race and modeling the behavior I want to see in the world.”
5 Years Later
In 2020, we committed to a five-year focus to address racial injustice in the United States and helping to improve the lived experiences of our employees and the communities in which we live and work. As the initiative reaches its planned conclusion, we will apply the lessons learned to our enterprise-wide business strategy to further fuel innovation. We will continue to focus on creating career opportunities, attracting and retaining top talent, strengthening our supplier and partner ecosystem and making an impact through local partnerships in education, justice systems, connectivity, AI skilling and business growth.
"63 percent of the way to our goal for Black and African American people managers (below director level) and 128.7 percent the way for Black and African American directors+"
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Palate Cleanser
To remember what happened to George Floyd brings up many memories about others and about myself, thank you for sharing