Black Lives are not just a hashtag

I was born and raised in France from a Vietnamese immigrant father, and a French mother. As a child, other kids would call me a “Chinetoque,” a mildly derogatory French slang word for “Chinese”. The intention was most often more playful than mean. It had no material consequences. Still, I hated it.

I can only imagine what being born Black means in America, when the color of your skin can so significantly impact the actual trajectory of your life.

In the days following George Floyd’s murder, coming after the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and countless others before, we at Ipsos talked and listened a lot. We knew from the beginning we wanted to use our skills and our reach to influence real change. We also knew what we did not want: to issue corporate statements without concrete action.

We made three important decisions and started to act immediately:

1. We established an Anti-Racism Employee Resource Group. You will learn more about it here.
2. We committed to better represent African Americans and other minorities, in our research about People, Markets and Societies, from our sampling to our analysis.
3. We committed to keep the cause alive beyond the moment, by continuously fueling a public debate based on knowledge and insight rather than on ignorance.

Since we made these decisions we have already published extensive content. You will find some of the links below. My hope is that as many people as possible will use these data points and insights to learn, ideate and support the plans you and your organizations are setting up.

I want to thank our media partners, including USA Today, ABC News, The Washington Post, Reuters, Axios and many others. Without them, our research would not have the same reach. They are instrumental in raising the public knowledge and informing decision makers who in turn influence policy change.

We are living a defining moment. Alone we cannot do much. Together we can progress towards a world in which, to put simply, differences are celebrated and people are treated equally regardless of the random circumstances of their birth.

Pierre Le Manh

Links to Ipsos published content:

Protests

In the days after George Floyd’s murder, protests have sprung up in all 50 states. But while some of the most violent tactics have gathered the most news coverage — whether by rioters or authorities in front of the White House — the vast majority have been peaceful, and an overwhelming majority of Americans sympathize with the protesters.

Americans overwhelmingly endorse the right of peaceful protest outside the White House, and two-thirds oppose Trump’s show of force to remove protesters (USA Today/Ipsos poll)

One in 10 Americans say a family member or close friend has attended a protest (Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index)

Four in five Americans say peaceful protests are an appropriate response to the murder of an unarmed man by police (Reuters/Ipsos poll)

More than 970 protests have been held — across all 50 states — since George Floyd was killed, and the vast majority have been peaceful. Here’s an interactive map. (Ipsos)

Digging into the social conversation around protests, from the emotional tone to the most popular skin tone of fist emojis (Ipsos)

VIDEO: Scenes from protests across the nation and reaction from Americans as part of our global syndicated ethnography series, “CovidWatch” (XXXXX) password ECECovidWatch2020

Police reform

One of the clearest demands from protesters across the country has been that this moment is the time to reform the way policing is done in America. A majority of Americans agree that George Floyd’s murder is a symptom of our broken system, but the rallying cry of “defund the police” only has support from about a third of the population.

A third of Americans support the movement to “defund the police.” Slightly more support reducing police budgets if the money is shifted to mental health, housing, and education. (ABC News/Ipsos poll)

Most Americans, including Republicans, support sweeping Democratic police reform proposals (Reuters/Ipsos poll)

74% of Americans think George Floyd’s murder is part of a bigger problem — including 55% of Republicans (ABC News/Ipsos poll)

Systemic inequality

The problems coming to a head in America didn’t start with George Floyd’s murder — they date back to the founding of America. But systemic inequality took thousands of American lives this year, given the vulnerability of Black Americans to the coronavirus. Ipsos digs in.

Racism in public health, employment, and policing are coming to a head in America. Here's why. (Ipsos)

75% of Black Americans say they're extremely or very concerned that coronavirus is doing greater damage to people of color, compared to only 30% of white Americans (Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index)

Injustice is real, but not all Americans are willing to see it (Ipsos U.S. Public Affairs President Cliff Young)

Black Americans are deeply pessimistic about the country under Trump, whom more than 8 in 10 describe as ‘a racist’ (Washington Post-Ipsos poll)

Poverty and social inequality are rising on an Ipsos survey of the most important global issues (Ipsos)

How to respond

What’s next? How can you and your company help? We hope being armed with data makes it easier. But here’s what Americans want to see from people and companies as the crisis progresses and we move toward solutions.

This is what America wants from companies after George Floyd's death (Ipsos)

We’re in the same storm, but different boats: How the twin crises of the coronavirus and George Floyd’s murder are changing the way Americans think (Ipsos)

Showing Up for Black America: How Ipsos is grappling with systemic racism, and how people, organizations and brands can show up for Black Americans through meaningful actions (Ipsos Insight Out podcast)

Preach what you practice: Considerations for brands on advertising around the issue of racial justice as two crises compel brands to learn in the moment. (Ipsos)