Women's March co-founder Tamika Mallory attacked the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Tuesday in a series of tweets where she accused the Jewish organization of attacking black people, prompting agreement from a Black Lives Matter co-founder.
After a Philadelphia Starbucks store manager called the police on two black men, the coffee giant announced it would hold mandatory diversity training for all company-owned stores. Among the civil rights organizations pairing with Starbucks are the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Equal Justice Initiative, and the ADL.
But Mallory was not happy, tweeting that Starbucks was "NOT serious about doing right by BLACK people!" She posted an image accusing the ADL of "CONSTANTLY attacking black and brown people."
@starbucks is NOT serious about doing right by BLACK people! #boycottstarbucks pic.twitter.com/dHvR2ZxAjK
— Tamika D. Mallory (@TamikaDMallory) April 17, 2018
Among the concerns Mallory cited was the fact the ADL honored a police department being investigated by the Department of Justice for systematic racism.
Days before the one-year anniversary of the killing of #MichaelBrown in the St. Louis area, the ADL honored that police department. Even the DOJ was investigating them. You might think these things are disconnected but we know better. This is not abt hate.
— Tamika D. Mallory (@TamikaDMallory) April 18, 2018
Mallory is incorrect. The police department the ADL honored was the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, while the Ferguson Police Department was the one being investigated by the DOJ and whose officer shot Michael Brown. The DOJ latter cleared the officer but called for an overhaul of the department's criminal justice system, saying it had engaged in many constitutional violations.
Mallory is correct that the ADL occasionally criticizes black leaders, but left out that she was one of them. CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt called out Mallory for attending a rally for rabid anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan. Mallory refused to denounce Farrakhan or apologize for supporting him.
Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrise Cullors likewise responded "nah son" to the news that the ADL would be involved with the Starbucks training.
@ADL_National is being used to train @Starbucks workers on anti bias 👀👀👀👁👁 nah son!
— patrisse cullors (@OsopePatrisse) April 18, 2018
Cullors tweet was subsequently retweeted by Mallory.