On this day, 4 June 2020, over 30 workers of colour at the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper called in “sick and tired” to work in protest at their employer using a headline equating Black lives with buildings.
Amidst a wave of protests against the police murder of George Floyd and other unarmed Black people under the slogan Black Lives Matter, the paper published a story on June 2 entitled “Buildings Matter, Too.” After journalists of colour wrote a letter complaining and announcing they would be walking out the following day, the newspaper apologised. The letter stated: “We are tired of seeing our words and photos twisted to fit a narrative that does not reflect our reality. We are tired of being told to show both sides of issues there are no two sides of.”
On the day of the walkout, over 30 of the 210 journalists at the paper participated, seemingly all workers of colour, as some of their white colleagues on Twitter posted statements in support of the action but stating they were attending work as usual.
On the same day, over a dozen workers at the New York Times newspaper also staged a sick-out in protest at the newspaper publishing an editorial from a far-right lawmaker making numerous false statements and advocating military action against Black Lives Matter protesters. The Times originally defended its publication, but later admitted it “did not meet editorial standards.” https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1731828283668981/?type=3