Amazon Accused Of Secretly Stopping Fast Deliveries To Majority-Black Areas

Photo: Getty Images Amazon is being accused of secretly halting its fastest delivery service in two predominantly Black neighborhoods. On Wednesday (Dec. 4), the District of Columbia filed a complaint against Amazon, alleging the company discriminated against two low-income, predominately-Black zip codes when it secretly stopped providing residents with the benefits of its Prime services, per the Associated Press. Amazon’s Prime membership provides the company’s fastest deliveries, including one-day, two-day, and same-day shipments. For the membership, consumers pay roughly $139 per year or $14.99 monthly. According to the lawsuit, Amazon imposed a delivery “exclusion” on ZIP codes 20019 and 20020 in 2022, relying solely on third-party delivery services, including UPS and USPS, to fulfill its orders, rather than its own delivery system. The exclusion resulted in slower deliveries for the predominately Black neighborhoods. Amazon said it made the change based on safety concerns. “There have been specific and targeted acts against drivers delivering Amazon packages” in the two ZIP codes and the company made the change to “put the safety of delivery drivers first,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement. “We made the deliberate choice to adjust our operations, including delivery routes and times, for the sole reason...