Uber Eats Is Waiving Delivery Fees for All Black-Owned Restaurants

[Celerity]

The promotion will continue through 2020.

https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/uber-eats-waiving-delivery-fees-black-owned-restaurants



There are numerous ways to disavow the police brutality and systemic racism that plagues our nation. And while protests, donations, and petitions are essential for creating change, supporting Black-owned businesses is another actionable way to help a hurting community. Uber Eats is now incentivizing it, too -- by waiving delivery fees on all orders from Black-owned restaurants through the end of 2020, the company's CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced in an email to customers on Thursday. The app will provide a prompt so you can easily navigate on over to a list of available Black-owned restaurants in your area.

"I wish that the lives of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless others weren’t so violently cut short," Khosrowshahi wrote in the statement. "I wish that institutional racism, and the police violence it gives rise to, didn’t cause their deaths. I wish that all members of our Black community felt safe enough to move around their cities without fear."

In addition to slashing delivery fees and offering discounted rides, Khosrowshahi has promised to increase the company's diversity numbers. According to a company report dating back to 2019, 45% of Uber's US employees were white, 33% Asian, 9% Black, and 8% Hispanic. The company is also donating $1 million to the Equal Justice Initiative and Center for Policing Equity.

"We know this isn’t enough. It won’t be enough until we see true racial justice. But we plan to work day in and day out to improve, learn, and grow as a company," Khosrowshahi closed out the email. "Lastly, let me speak clearly and unequivocally: Black Lives Matter."

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[Ron Obvious]

1. Weird

I don't see how that's even legal.

[Celerity]

4. its a private business delivering for private business, and they are not stopping anyone from

buying elsewhere.

[Ron Obvious]

5. Is it different from e.g. charging higher prices to black customers?

And would that be legal?

[Celerity]

6. Is not a blocking act and you are parroting RW talking points. Replace waiver of delivery fees with

affirmative action or minority-owned business set-asides in federal contracting and you sound like a Fox news talking head.

[Ron Obvious]

9. That's sophistry

Waiving delivery fees to black customers IS charging higher prices to non-black customers and IS discrimination. Whether it's currently legal or not doesn't change that.

And don't give me this crap about RW talking points or Fox news.

[Celerity]

11. It most definitely is not sophistry, in fact you, by simply repeating the same faulty logic over

and over, are the one engaged in sophistry.

Waiving fees is NOT charging higher prices to other people. That is just a logical fallacy. And your entire argument IS based off RW talking points, so own it. Your line of reasoning would mean that all sorts of minority-focused programmes are illegal. Good luck pushing that here m8.

The very concept of colourblindness itself is a RW talking point, because we (I am a cis-gendered female of colour) live in a non-colourblind world. The world is a priori stacked against us at deep systemic levels simply due to our racial and ethnic make-up.

Shame the Discussionist closed up shop, as I am sure you could have found a lot of people there who would agree with you.

[Ron Obvious]

12. That didn't take long

Even civil disagreement is unwelcome to you apparently.

[Celerity]

13. cheers

[msongs]

2. it's a public relations marketing move nt

[Celerity]

3. it will drive more business to the restos so I see no issue

[frazzled]

7. I think Instacart is doing a little better

Especially given that, from my experience, a vast majority of their delivery employees are black.

We at Instacart are deeply saddened by the series of disturbing and tragic events that have taken place over the last few weeks related to the violence and injustice toward the Black community including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others. The resulting protests have created a flashpoint for awareness, action, and change—one that we recognize is long overdue.

As we grapple with the senseless loss of life and continued systemic inequality, we’re stepping back to examine what more Instacart can do. We believe this work starts by supporting our internal teams, as well as helping black communities across North America. To that end, we’re investing $1 million to help support actionable change within both the Instacart family—including our shoppers and employees—and the broader community that needs our support right now.

Supporting our Shopper Community

First, we’re prioritizing the safety of our shoppers by investing $500,000 to support this important community. This investment will go towards compensating in-store shoppers and teams for any disruption to their shifts due to store closures or local curfews, as well as additional tools and features that support shopper safety.

Supporting Black Communities

Our mission is focused on giving people access to food and we believe we have an opportunity to more prominently show up for communities of color that are disproportionately struggling with food insecurity. Through our work with Feeding America and Food Banks Canada, Instacart is in a unique position to support underserved counties with the highest food insecurity rates in North America. To better support these communities, we’re making a $250,000 donation to go to food banks in the Feeding America and Food Banks Canada network.

As a company, we’re committed to speaking up and taking action against discrimination. In the spirit of this commitment, we’re donating $250,000 to the Equal Justice Initiative. The EJI is a non-profit organization that challenges racial and economic injustice on behalf of marginalized communities by confronting inequalities within our criminal justice system - offering support to those wrongly convicted, denied a fair trial, or offered poor legal representation.

Deepening Our Diversity & Inclusion Investment

The events of the past week have prompted much reflection about how we can make meaningful and lasting changes at Instacart to ensure the diverse voices across our employees, customers, and shopper community are heard and represented. From holding ourselves accountable to fostering an inclusive work environment to giving employees space to participate in meaningful conversations and activism—we’re committed to taking action within our own community.

We’ll continue to use our voice to be a positive force for change and look forward to continuing to listen, learn, and evolve as an organization.

Thank you,

Apoorva Mehta
Founder & CEO, Instacart

[Celerity]

8. +100000

[Shermann]

10. Chicken and waffles...to my door!

I like chicken. I like waffles. Syrup good. Breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? All good, bring it!