Black Lives Matter to Mark Zuckerberg

According to a post by Zuckerberg for Facebook employees only, which was obtained by Gizmodo (screenshot below), he was forced to address the issue of employees crossing out “black lives matter” and replacing it with “all lives matter” for a second time.

Zuckerberg wrote:

There have been several recent instances of people crossing out “black lives matter” and writing “all lives matter” on the walls at MPK.

Despite my clear communication at Q&A last week that this was unacceptable, and messages from several other leaders from across the company, this has happened again. I was already very disappointed by this disrespectful behavior before, but after my communication, I now consider this malicious, as well.

There are specific issues affecting the black community in the U.S., coming from a history of oppression and racism. “Black lives matter” doesn’t mean other lives don’t—it’s simply asking that the black community also achieves the justice they deserve.

We’ve never had rules around what people can write on our walls—we expect everybody to treat each other with respect. Regardless of the content or location, crossing out something means silencing speech, or that one person’s speech is more important than another’s. Facebook should be a service and a community where everyone is treated with respect.

This has been a deeply hurtful and tiresome experience for the black community and really the entire Facebook community, and we are now investigating the current incidents.

I hope and encourage people to participate in the Black@ town hall March 4 to educate themselves about what the Black Lives Matter movement is about.

Readers: What did you think of Zuckerberg’s message to employees?

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.