An employee at a Taco Bell in Youngstown, Ohio was recently fired for, reportedly, wearing a Black Lives Matter mask to work.
In the video, the man was told that he could not wear the mask because he wasn't allowed to "bring politics in." To which the man questioned how Black Lives Matter is political.
On June 2, Taco Bell Corp released an official statement on the BLM movement and the unjust killing of Black people in America.
The firing is in direct contradiction to this statement. To be fired for expressing that Black lives matter is very clearly racist. This is an action of implicit racism. And the frightening part is the woman committing the act claims she is "just doing her job."
After learning about the situation, Taco Bell has begun to work with the local branch in Youngstown to address the issue. However, something like this shouldn't have happened in the first place.
It is one thing for companies to state their intention to do something in this time and actually take actions, but this tweet from Taco Bell feels more like performative allyship than anything — especially when Black employees are getting fired for supporting BLM.
We can only hope that Taco Bell does the right thing in this situation and reinstate this employee.
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