Sainsbury's Black Lives Matter pledge divides Twitter
Sainsbury’s took to Twitter this morning to post a statement in which the grocery giant stressed its commitment to make itself “a much more diverse and inclusive place to work and shop.”
“Right now, only 8% of our senior leaders are from ethnic minority backgrounds, and we know that black people are under-represented within that group. That is not good enough. And for it to change, we commit to change,” it added.
Sainsbury’s has, therefore, committed to training its 250 senior leaders and board “in understanding and fluently talking about race and ethnicity.” Other initiatives include tripling its investment in the development of its ethnic minority colleagues and completing a pay gap review and releasing the results this year.
Somewhat unsuprisingly, the announcement has met with a mixed response on Twitter. “If all supermarkets do this then racists won’t have anywhere to get food and would die out quicker,” said @SteveGammon6.
Whilst @chewdkandi asked: “This is great - can you confirm you've stopped advertising in racist, hate filled media such as the Daily Mail and The Sun (cc:@StopFundingHate). Is marketing budget still being spent there?”
At the same time, however, @McmanamonPenny declared: “That’s me done with sainsburys. I go there for shopping not political statements.”
Down with this sort of thing
Last month, #BoycottSainsburys was trending on Twitter, following a backlash over the removal of a statue of a slave trader in London.
Lord Sainsbury, whose great grandfather founded Sainsbury's, was blamed for pulling down Robert Milligan’s statue in West India Quay after it was claimed that his family funds the Museum of London, which reportedly made the decision.
It was not clear whether Lord Sainsbury had publicly addressed the issue. But that didn’t stop people from flocking to Twitter and claiming they would never shop with Sainsbury’s again.
Many others, though, were quick to defend the retailer and the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Lord Sainsbury says statues of slave owners should be taken down. Racist people reply with #BoycottSainsburys. I reply with #BuySainsburys,” said one person.
“Delivery slot available probably due to all the racists who decided to #BoycottSainsburys because a statue of a slave owner was taken down. Thank you all,” another commented.
Whilst one joked: “Thank you to all those who are going to #BoycottSainsburys. I look forward to much shorter queues and less jostling with the likes of these knuckle dragging, bottom feeding, xenophobic, racist mouth breathers.”
