What is true is that regardless of our diverse backgrounds, we are all human, and humans make mistakes. The mischaracterization on social media - that White executives at a tech company failed, yet again, to include Black perspectives - is completely untrue. Regardless, we should not have used smiling as a trigger to break the chains of slavery in the Lens, and we understand why that was offensive. I’m hoping many people will understand how the same word can be appropriate in one context, but inappropriate in another, depending on who is using it.

We feel it is perfectly acceptable as Black people to celebrate the end of slavery - as we do with picnics, BBQs, street parties and other forms of celebration across America - and say “Smile! Happy Juneteenth we’re no longer enslaved! But we’re not yet really free either!” However for a White person to tell a Black person: “Smile! You’re no longer slaves” is offensive in the extreme. What we also did not fully realize was a) that a ‘smile’ trigger would necessarily include the actual word “smile” on the content and b) that people would perceive this as work created by White creatives, not Black creatives. We reviewed the Lens from the standpoint of Black creative content, made by and for Black people, so did not adequately consider how it would look when used by non-Black members of our community. Speaking on behalf of my team, clearly we failed to recognize the gravity of the “smile” trigger. The Snap team members who suggested the smile trigger to begin with, and said it was acceptable to use, were Black Snap team members, and / or members of my team. For the record, and the avoidance of all doubt: the two Snap team members who on separate occasions specifically questioned if the “smile” trigger was appropriate for Juneteenth were two White team members.

This is completely unacceptable.Īll of these accusations are particularly painful, first because we care so deeply about racial justice, and second because the accusations are completely untrue. I particularly want to apologize to our team members who have been accused both externally and internally of failing to be culturally sensitive in some instances they have actually been called racist. After reviewing how the process unfolded, it’s very clear that Black Snap team members were fully involved in every stage of developing and approving the Lens and that, in hindsight, we should have developed a more appropriate Lens. Snap was also accused of failing to include Black perspectives in the creation of our Lens to mark Juneteenth - a date often celebrated by African-Americans to mark the end of slavery. Snap released a Lens to commemorate Juneteenth that many people felt was offensive because it prompted users to ‘smile’ to break the chains of slavery. As a leader responsible for driving Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Snap, I want to directly address what happened with the Juneteenth Lens yesterday.

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