April 15, 2021
Ben & Jerry’s is Sick and Tired of White Supremacy, Want To Defund The Police
Ben & Jerry’s is standing up for Black lives, calling for the criminal justice system to be defunded and reformed.
Ice cream makers Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield believe white supremacy was the reason why 20-year-old Daunte Wright was shot and killed by a police officer in a Minneapolis suburb over the weekend, Fox News reported.
“The murder of Daunte Wright is rooted in white supremacy and results from the intentional criminalization of Black and Brown communities,” said Ben and Jerry’s official Twitter. “This system can’t be reformed.”
The murder of #DaunteWright is rooted in white supremacy and results from the intentional criminalization of Black and Brown communities.
This system can’t be reformed.
It must be dismantled and a real system of public safety rebuilt from the ground up.#DefundThePolice
— Ben & Jerry’s (@benandjerrys) April 12, 2021
The decision to call out white supremacy was met with praise from activists, but there was pushback from those who disagree with its hardline position on police reform.
Never had Blue Bell ice cream. How do we make this happen?
— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) April 14, 2021
Dear aging hippies from Ben and Jerry’s (Even though you sold out to Unilever a long time ago), please stick to making overpriced super sickly ice cream, not lecturing us.
— Simon Lord 🏉🏍🌊🏴 (@MPC3675) April 14, 2021
This is not the first time Ben and Jerry’s made its left-leaning politics public. The company is open about its stance on climate change, voting rights, and has collaborated with civil rights athlete Colin Kaepernick, known for “taking a knee” protests against racial injustice in America, to make a signature ice cream flavor, The Sun reported.
The officer who killed Wright is former police officer Kim Potter. On Wednesday, she was arrested and faces 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine on a second-degree manslaughter charge.
As BLACK ENTERPRISE previously reported, the Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer handed in her resignation in a short letter to Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliot Tuesday. After Potter handed in her resignation, Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon did the same.
“I have loved every minute of being a police officer and serving this community to the best of my ability, but I believe it is in the best interest of the community, the department, and my fellow officers if I resign immediately,” Potter wrote.
This is the third incident of a Black man being killed by an officer’s hand in the state in the last five years. Philando Castile, who was also fatally shot during a traffic stop in 2016, and George Floyd, who was killed last year. The police officer who killed Floyd is currently on trial, less than 10 miles from where Wright was shot.