General Motors to go silent for 8 minutes, 46 seconds on Juneteenth in support of Black community

Multinational corporation General Motors Company is tying in George Floyd's police killing with the celebration of Juneteenth today. GM wants workers to stay silent for 8 minutes and 46 seconds on the day and afternoons shifts starting at 8:46 a.m. and again at 8:46 p.m. This is how GM says that they stand with the Black community. But one has nothing to do with the other.

GM President Mark Reuss believes "eight-plus minutes of solid reflection will benefit everyone.” Reuss added that he has felt "disbelief, anger, shame, grief, and heartbreak" of the recent police killing of George Floyd. Reuss believes this isn't who we are as human beings or as a country. Really? George Floyd is not the first Black man or Black person to be unjustifiably killed by police.

What CEO Mary Barra and President Reuss can do to truly show and prove that they stand by the Black community is: hire Black applicants as "legacy" employees rather than temporary workers. The temp employees, are majority Black, work just as hard, no doubt, doubly harder, than the permanent employees standing next to them, but earning only half the pay with little to zero benefits. Let's start there first. No need for memos once a year or in a lifetime, inclusivity boards, or diversity staff training days. There is definitely no need to be silent for 8 minutes and 46 seconds throughout the workday. It is only a painful reminder of yet another unjustified Black death on the day of all days of when supposed freedom for Blacks in this country was born. Silence is complicit, remember? If I never in life see the numbers 8, 4, and 6 together again, it will be too soon.

Sources:

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2020/06/general-motors-to-go-silent-for-8-minutes-46-seconds-on-juneteenth/