The Starbucks thing

Starbucks will close 8,000 US stores May 29 for racial-bias training

In case you haven’t been following the story:

— Two black men in Philadelphia were arrested at a Starbucks after the store manager reported them to the cops for SWWB (Sitting and Waiting While Black).
— Kerfuffle ensues.
— Starbucks CEO orders all stores closed for an afternoon next month so every employee can undergo “racial bias training.”

From what I’ve read, the original incident was pretty bad, especially since there’s a recording of the person the two black guys were there to meet arguing with police as they were being cuffed and taken away.

So, is this “training” a necessary step? An overreaction?

Seems more like a police issue than a Starbucks issue, honestly.

 

Small. Medium. Large.

It's not that difficult, Starbucks.

 

I bought a cold brew from a Starbucks yesterday. I will not boycott an entire company because one employee in one of a million franchises made a mistake.

That said, I don't think Starbucks is overreacting. Get out in front of it. Crisis PR 101.

 

The training closure is a pretty perfect crisis management step.

That said, why in the world would you call the cops on people waiting for their friends to show up?

 

FWIW, this is the only terminology I ever use there...with the exception of occasionally tossing in "red-eye." Screw their Haagen-dazs made-up bullshit.

 

Is it a necessary step to improve Starbucks' service? Probably not.

Is it a necessary step to get protesters off their ass? Oh yeah.

It's a bad manager at one Starbucks out of 8,000. It's not entirely on police, but they fucked this up too.

 

Waiting while black in the deep South.

Oh, wait.

 

Philadelphia is as racist as anywhere in this country. And most of the time, it’s not particularly subtle.

 

Suspiciously Black in Starbucks - CityLab

Even though Philadelphia has a large African-American population, Rittenhouse Square is one of its whitest neighborhoods. The charges of trespassing against these two black men have to be viewed through that lens. It must also be answered whether the two men were simply trespassing on private property or whether they were trespassing on property located in an “exclusive” neighborhood—meaning excluding people who look like them.

 

January in Torrance (SoCal): Black man is denied access code to the restroom because he hasn't ordered. Sees white man enter restroom without having ordered. Makes video that is now getting a wider audience.

A Starbucks in California treats black and white men differently, according to this video

It's at least two stores now out of 8,000. They're one incident away from a full-blown crisis. I'm going to guess that incident will surface.

 

What is the protocol with people waiting in your store and not purchasing anything? I really don't know.

 

I’d bet there is at least one person who didn’t purchase anything sitting in every coffee shop in America.