The ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s is facing a boycott following a Fourth of July tweet calling on the United States to return land historically occupied by Native Americans.
“This 4th of July, it’s high time we recognize that the US exists on stolen Indigenous land and commit to returning it. Learn more and take action now,” tweeted the company.
On its website, Ben & Jerry’s expressed support for the Landback movement and called for Mount Rushmore to be given to the Lakota tribe.
“Long before South Dakota had become a state, long before the faces of four American presidents were blasted into the side of Mount Rushmore, that mountain was known as Tunkasila Sakpe, the Six Grandfathers, to the Lakota Sioux — a holy mountain that rises up from the Black Hills, land they consider sacred,” reads the corporate website.
The Vermont-based ice cream company’s tweet prompted some observers to note that Ben & Jerry’s headquarters was built on formerly Native American land, and the company has made no effort to return it.
“BEN & JERRYS SHOULD GIVE ALL THEIR ICE CREAM FACTORIES BACK TO THE NATIVE INDIANS. IF THEY DON’T THEN THEY ARE HYPOCRITES,” wrote one Twitter user.
“It’s time to boycott Ben and Jerry’s until they give back the land that belongs to the [N]ative Americans. This is ancestral barrial [sic] grounds. Ben and Jerry’s build over the Graves of the elders of the tribe. If you want to give Reparations, give it to the Indians,” tweeted another, Stephen Olko.
One Twitter user posted a video allegedly recorded at a Safeway grocery store in California. The video shows the Ben & Jerry’s section of the frozen foods aisle, mostly filled to the brim. Other ice cream brands in the video appear to be in much shorter supply on the shelves.
“Damn @benandjerrys y’all should’ve just kept your mouths shut with all that fake virtue signaling. Now NO ONE’S buying your stuff and you just got blitzed by Haagen Dazs at the same time,” wrote the poster.
Don Stevens, chief of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation, spoke with Newsweek about the controversy, telling the outlet that the company has not reached out about returning the land where its headquarters sits, which at one point belonged to his ancestors.
“We are always interested in reclaiming the stewardship of our lands throughout our traditional territories and providing opportunities to uplift our communities. … If and when we are approached, many conversations and discussions will need to take place to determine the best path forward for all involved,” Stevens said.
The controversy over Ben & Jerry’s public call to give Mount Rushmore to the descendants of the Native American tribes of the Great Plains follows Bud Light’s disastrous marketing partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney. The move prompted a devastating boycott campaign, which resulted in the downwind closure of two manufacturing plants, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
It is currently unclear what economic impact boycott calls against Ben & Jerry’s will have on the ice cream company.
