While the passing of George Floyd was deeply sad to witness, the subsequent protests around the States in the fight for racial equality have displayed a massive shift in the right direction.
As more people stand up for equality, the pressure is put on celebrities and companies to speak up and pick a side of these ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests. As a result, we’re witnessing a lot of posts on social media that are pro-George Floyd but are posted in a way which feels a little tone-deaf. Listen to all the details below:
CBS
American broadcaster CBS took to Twitter with the message “We stand in solidarity with our Black colleagues, creators, partners, and audiences and condemn acts of racism, discrimination and senseless acts of violence.” And while this looks to be a message that backs George Floyd, Black Lives Matter and the actions of the protesters, many Twitter users pointed out the hypocrisy. A few users pointed out the hypocrisy of CBS housing law-enforcement vehicles at the same time as posting this message.
Also, Twitter users questioned if this sentiment was reflected in the content the broadcaster was airing in addition to questioning the true diversity spectrum of their staff.
NFL
Another hypocritical post made by a corporation came from the NFL. The American National Football League took to Twitter to share a statement on the passing of George Floyd and the subsequent protests. They said, “The NFL family is greatly saddened by the tragic events across our country. The protesters’ reactions to these incidents reflect the pain, anger and frustration that so many of us feel.”
And while this post seems in favour of the protestors, in theory, much of the Internet was quick to remind them of their mistreatment of Colin Kaepernick. This ex-NFL player hasn’t played a game in over 2 years as a result of refusing to stand for the national anthem at a game. While this in itself became a symbol against police brutality and Black Lives Matter, Kaepernick’s refusal saw his banishment from the NFL, hence the hypocritical nature of this Tweet.
For more on the the ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests, we spoke about how you can help from Australia on this episode of It’s Been A Big Day For…
L’Oreal Paris
In 2017, L’Oreal Paris hired Munroe Bergdorf as its first transgender representative, but she was immediately dropped following comments that she had made, calling out racism after a neo-Nazi rally in Virginia. As a result, Munroe Bergdorf has some choice words against L’Oreal after they recently shared an updated slogan to social media. Bergdorf said, “Excuse my language but I am SO angry. F**K YOU (L’Oreal Paris). You dropped me from a campaign in 2017 and threw me to the wolves for speaking out about racism and white supremacy… You do NOT get to do this. This is NOT okay, not even in the slightest,” Big yikes. Performative equality at its finest.
David Guetta
Last but certainly not least, we have one of the biggest DJs in the world right now remixing Martin Luther King’s infamous speech and giving a shout out to George Floyd’s family. Nope, we’re not joking. Honestly, we wish we were. There are many, many levels to how tone-deaf this is, but we’ll just leave this video to let you cringe in peace.
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