Amazon under fire for black lives matter tweet

As protests take place in dozens of US cities over the death of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, Amazon has used Twitter to express its support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

“The inequitable and brutal treatment of black people in our country must stop. Together we stand in solidarity with the black community - our employees, customers and partners, in the fight against against systemic racism and injustice,” it said.

The e-commerce giant has never been far from controversy during the coronavirus outbreak (it has, for instance, been blasted by American comedian, political commentator and television host, Bill Maher and John Oliver, host of HBO's Last Week Tonight show).

And sure enough, its tweet attracted a flurry of angry responses. “Will your Black employees be given bathroom breaks? Will they be able to unionise without fear of reprisal? Will they get hazard pay for working through Covid? Will you stop lobbying against a tax that mitigates homelessness in Seattle, which affects Black communities hardest?” said Tony Choi.

“Funny coming from the company that fired a Black man for asking for safer working conditions during Covid, sells Nazi flags and remains the last large advertiser on Breitbart, which once featured a “Black Crime” section, despite being asked to stop by 600+ of your diverse workers,” commented Sleeping Giants.

Whilst Robert Wing asked: “That's awesome - now, as one of the richest companies on the planet, one who has heavily profited during the pandemic, how about you take it a step further and provide some meaningful monetary support to the individuals and organisations you're claiming solidarity with?”

Amazon did not respond to our request for comment, but you can read about how it is responding to the coronavirus crisis here.