* Amazon executives, including retail chief Jeff Wilke and hardware boss Dave Limp, addressed the Black Lives Matter movement with their respective teams last week.
* In emails obtained by Business Insider, Wilke said the recent events made him reconsider the way he thinks about racial issues in the country, while Limp said it's more of a personal issue given his wife and children are Black.
* Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos hasn't written anything companywide but has been publicly sharing his thoughts through social media.
* Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
As the Black Lives Matter movement gained steam last week, some of Amazon's most senior executives took the time to directly address the issue with their individual teams.
Unlike CEO Jeff Bezos, who publicly expressed his thoughts by sharing two controversial customer emails, other Amazon executives were more subdued, resorting to internal emails to empathize with employees.
Amazon's retail chief Jeff Wilke wrote in an email on Thursday that he's still searching for answers as some of the recent events and conversations he's had have changed the way he thinks about systemic racism in the country.
Wilke, whose official title is CEO of worldwide consumer, wrote that he's willing to listen more and build the right tools for employees to speak out on these issues.
"I thought I was doing my part and contributing to positive change," Wilke wrote in the email, obtained by Business Insider. "It's so clear now that my actions weren't nearly enough."
Meanwhile, Dave Limp, Amazon's SVP of devices and services, had a more personal touch, as his wife and children are Black. In the email, seen by Business Insider, Limp said he's found it "incredibly difficult and heartbreaking" to discuss the recent events with his family members, adding that he's even changed the types of movies they watch together at home. At the end of his email, Limp, who's in charge of Amazon's hardware and Alexa divisions, shared a link to President Obama's essay last week written in response to George Floyd's death.
"As I have said before, I am an optimist," Limp wrote. "But in this case, we cannot return to 'normal.'"
According to Recode, Amazon's general counsel David Zapolsky also wrote a similar email last week that encouraged his team members to support antiracist causes and organizations. But his email came across as a bit out of touch as he failed to address the racist comments he made about the fired warehouse worker in April, Recode said.
As a company, Amazon made a $10 million donation last week to organizations that support racial justice and equity. Earlier this week, the company announced that it would match employee donations to those organizations 100% up to $10,000 per employee until July 6.
Amazon didn't respond to a request for comment.
Here's the full email by Wilke:
Dear Amazonians,
I know that many of you are angry and heartbroken, stressed and weary. I share those emotions, though can't begin to know how our Black colleagues feel. We all are witnesses to institutionalized violence against Black people—appallingly demonstrated once more by the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and others.
At this moment, all of us are searching for answers. My first instinct when faced with something that's broken is to apply what I've already learned and fix the problem. But it's clear to me that I don't yet have the right toolkit for the issues that face us. Right now, it's time for me to listen. A friend sent me an email this weekend, and in it he said, "The narrative that security of accomplishment will somehow lead to equality in this country for people of color, especially Black men, is a false narrative. It is simply not real."
For most of my life, I had subscribed to this idea that facilitating achievement was the key to solving the problem. I thought that if people had opportunities—no matter their color—they would work hard, find success, and flourish. My friend who sent the email, a Black man, helped me realize my thinking on this topic was wrong. What we have seen in the past two weeks is a manifestation of the broader, systemic problem that has persisted for centuries in the U.S. It has become painfully obvious to me that many Black people don't have a sense of security or even feel safe, regardless of their job, their education, or where they live.
I thought I was doing my part and contributing to positive change. It's so clear now that my actions weren't nearly enough.
So, what should we do? What should I do? My first commitment to you is to listen. My leadership team and I will create more opportunities to listen, and better ways of making sure you are heard. I hope we will all work together to develop the right set of tools for the future: to improve our company and more broadly to ensure we can all live in a just society, and with respect for one another.
Please take care of yourselves, and reach out if I can help in any way.
JAW
Jeff Wilke
CEO, Worldwide Consumer
Here's the full email by Limp:
Folks,
I've spent the last week watching the events in Minnesota and around the country with a mix of emotions — anger, sadness, confusion, and disappointment, to name the most prevalent. Although the senseless death of George Floyd is the most recent, it is simply the latest in a long history of systemic racism and discrimination — both here in the United States, and around the world.
I cannot even begin to comprehend the challenges faced by those in our communities who are blanketed by stereotypes relating to race, color, sexual orientation, and more, and I know many of you are feeling the weight of this situation right now. I want you to know that we are here to help in any way possible. If you need time, or your voice be heard, please reach out to a friend, your manager, your HR partner, or send me a note.
As many of you know, my wife and three children are African American, which leads to reasonably frequent discussions about race in our home. I have been horrified at the hateful acts this week, and have found it incredibly difficult and heartbreaking to discuss these events — and the widespread injustice and inequity that is pervasive in our society — with my children. My daughter recently came into my office to talk about how Martin Luther King Jr. would have dealt with the civil unrest we are seeing, and our family movie night has shifted from The Avengers to The Hate U Give, as we continue our discussions about how unacceptable discrimination and abuse of power are in our society. I imagine that many of you are having similar conversations in your homes, and I urge you to continue them.
As I have said before, I am an optimist. But in this case, we cannot return to "normal." Optimism can only flow from meaningful change. To be clear, I don't have the answers at my fingertips, but I am deeply committed to working to find them — hopefully, with your help. I hope that each of you finds Amazon and this organization to be a place where you feel welcome, appreciated, and heard. If you have ideas of how we can do better, I welcome them. If you are wondering how you can help to push for real change, and how you can learn more about some of the challenges our communities are facing, I found this essay to be a useful place to start.
I continue to believe this is the best team I have ever worked with and I am confident we can invent this new future together.
Be safe,
Dave-
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