More than 1,600 Google workers demanded the company “take concrete steps to help dismantle racism” and end the police contract. In a letter that began circulating internally last week, workers wrote that they were “disappointed to learn that Google still sells to police forces, and advertises its relationship with police forces as progressive.

“The legacy of racist police throughout the United States returns to its roots, when police forces appear to protect the wealth gained from slavery and genocide,” the letter said. “We still have a long way to go to overcome the full legacy of racism but to begin with – we should not be in the business of profiting from racist police. We should not be in business to criminalize Black’s whereabouts while we sing Black Lives Matter. ”

The letter came a few days after the company’s Chief Executive Sundar Pichai announced Google do more than $ 175 million to “support Black business owners, startup founders, job seekers and developers.” Google is one of the many technology companies that has spoken out in support of the Black community since George Floyd was killed while in Minneapolis police detention. But these statements contrast sharply with those companies’ records of the treatment of Black employees and customers and how their products affect the Black community.

“We are committed to work that makes a significant difference in combating systemic racism, and our employees have made more than 500 product recommendations in the last few weeks, which we reviewed,” Google spokeswoman Cynthia Horiguchi said in a statement. “This one, we were the first big company to decide, years ago, not to make face recognition commercially available and we have very clear AI Principles that prohibit their use or sale for surveillance. We have long-term use terms for publicly available computing platforms such as Gmail, GSuite and Google Cloud Platform, and this product will still be available for use by the Government and local authorities, including the police department, “

In the letter, the workers, who call themselves Googlers against Racism, wrote that they were “disappointed” with the company’s response.

“The last few weeks have shown us that overcoming racism is not just a matter of words, but actions taken to dismantle the actual structure that perpetuates it,” the letter reads. “While we as individuals hold difficult but necessary conversations with our family, friends and peers, we are also very disappointed with our company’s response.

Google employees have carried out long internal battles against corporate business with law enforcement and government agencies with mixed results. In 2018, employees demanded the company cancel – and some quit in protest – the contract gave the Ministry of Defense artificial intelligence. Finally, the company announced that it would not increase relations with the Department of Defense when it’s for an update. However, when employees learned of an effort to create a censored search engine for China, hundreds of them demanded that Google stop the effort. Although Pichai insists there are no products ready to launch, he will not commit to not making “a tool for surveillance and sensors in China“When asked by members of Congress.

In the letter, Google employees specifically pointed to the company’s work with the Clarkstown police in New York, which had been sued “Several times for illegal surveillance of Black Lives Matter organizers“

“Why help the institution responsible for the knee on George Floyd’s neck be more organizationally effective?” Open letters for management to read.