In an alliance with the Black Lives Matter movement, Ben & Jerry’s has gone all in with the “Defund the Police” campaign.
The essay by the brand explains the “defund” movement, which has been popularized during the George Floyd protests, and “why it offers the best opportunity in generations to completely transform our model of policing and create stronger, safer communities” for “Black Americans and people of color.”
Fox News reports that Ben & Jerry’s explains that the “Defund the Police” movement is demanding an end to spending billions of tax dollars for “endlessly growing police budgets, loading up on manpower, surveillance, armor, and weapons of war” and instead invest it into affordable housing, job training, education, and other community needs.
“The ‘defund’ movement acknowledges that police are not appropriate or effective responders to homelessness, mental illness, addiction, school discipline, or any number of issues and activities that aren’t criminal and pose no danger to anyone. In fact, relying on the police to ‘solve’ those problems only escalates interactions, resulting in unnecessary conflict,” the blog wrote.
