Starbucks Discrimination

LaFaraona

LaFaraona

Well-Known Member
I am Not boycotting Starbucks. My local baristas have always been Very courteous, nice and respectful. I know and have seen homeless folks go in and the baristas treat them with respect and kindness like everyone else. That is and was the reason I give my money to SB because the service and behavior I have experienced with my local baristas and how I have seen them conduct themselves with other customers and I am emphasizing how I have personally seen them treat homeless folks in the establishment.

The way the manager in Philadelphia acted was uncalled for and unacceptable and I am not familiar with that particular SB franchise location.

The hands-on way corporate responded and dealt with the issue head-on is commendable and I respect that. The fact that they will be closing their stores for one day for training, and in the process lose revenue, is going beyond and above and needs to be acknowledged and it shows their commitment to solving an issue that is much bigger than SB.

I am side-eyeing and questioning the motives of folks that are glad the company is losing money and want them to lose even more and seem to be salivating for the company to apparently go out of business. I want to know if these same folks are boycotting and protesting the police officers that actually did the arresting and all the extra-ness.
Some folks seem to be in the business of being angry and offended no matter what. Their goal is not to fix the problem and in helping so solve issues but to be enraged, angry and offended no matter. So here we have a listed company making an effort to tackle a major Societal problem and instead of working with them and acknowledging that they are given an honest effort to deal with the situation they are being attacked even more. What message is this going to give to other company's: keep doing the ok-dokey, we hear you blah-blah-blah, but don't actually do anything because when SB tried to do something and lost revenue in the process the response they got was people piling on on them.
 
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M

Ms. Tarabotti

Well-Known Member
I do not frequent Starbucks; I am not a huge coffee drinker, don't like their tea and can't really eat any of the food that they sell (until they started to sell that overpriced gluten free sandwich). It will be pretty easy to stay away from this chain.

That being said, I feel everyone must do as their conscience dictates. If you feel that Starbucks actions to this point are fine and nothing would be served by boycotting, that's fine.. If you feel that boycotting is the only way to make a company understand and change their policies, that is also fine. Each person has to decide how much and what they are willing to do to combat racism. Everybody can't be involved in protesting everything.

I am taking a wait and see approach. Yes, it is nice that Starbucks jumped out in front of this problem with the CEO apologizing and announcing the closing for a day so their employees cab be (re)trained. Yet I can't help wondering if this incident hadn't had gone viral and the company faced with losing revenue, would these changes have been made? Or would it have been chalked up to just that particular Starbucks? No matter how nice your particular Starbucks treats its patrons, there seem to be others that are horrendous in the treatment of customers. Even though there seem to be guidelines for their business, these guidelines are not adhered to across the board. I will be watching to see what this training consists of, how it will be implemented across the various stores and the penalties for not adhering to this new policy.
 
momi

momi

Well-Known Member
LivingInPeace said:
The Starbucks near my office has never been problematic. There are homeless people in there every day. The staff gives them free food and coffee and doesn’t make them leave. It wouldn’t make sense to boycott that location.
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I agree with your sentiments.

Even though I don't spend money in SB because I consider them hostile to Christians - I would consider them one of the front runners when it comes to liberal ideals and practices.

They employ tons of people of color and don't seem to care a whole lot about their employees fitting in any cultural norms. So to see them boycotted is kind of an anomaly to me. Someone online called the boycott lib on lib crime. I chuckled.
 
Atthatday

Atthatday

Every knee shall bow...
IMO, the main issue is racism at its ugliest.

Another indirect issue is racist people utilizing policies to THEIR racist benefit. The rules aren’t being applied uniformly across the board. Until companies apply rules, policies, etc., across the board, we will keep having the problems.

Racist people are “fired/resigned/reinstated” only to go to, or stay, another job and spew their racist beliefs all over again. The ex-employee should be sued for harassment, discrimination, etc.

The training should consist of applying policies evenly across the entire company. It would take more than 1/2 day of training to accomplish the goals, but it’s a start.

Again, we need our own establishments to support in every way possible.

I don’t feel sorry for any money that SB, or any other company, has lost on these incidents. They can afford to “lose” money due to tax “reform”, whatever else deceitful scheme businesses utilize to keep from paying money to their employees, stock buybacks, the fact that they’ll raise their prices to cover any losses, etc.
 
S

Shula

Well-Known Member
MzLady78 said:
There is something seriously wrong with the way white people are wired.
Click to expand...

For real. I'm starting to see a couple of protest signs that say something like "even white people are getting sick of white people". I'm glad that we have social media and cellphone cameras to prove what we've been saying since we got off the boat. I don't doubt that all of the black folks in every incident would've gotten shafted otherwise. Evidence piling up every day, we can't all be imagining this.
 
MzLady78

MzLady78

Well-Known Member
Shula said:
For real. I'm starting to see a couple of protest signs that say something like "even white people are getting sick of white people". I'm glad that we have social media and cellphone cameras to prove what we've been saying since we got off the boat. I don't doubt that all of the black folks in every incident would've gotten shafted otherwise. Evidence piling up every day, we can't all be imagining this.
Click to expand...

A family member of mine owns a business, and someone spray-painted "white lives matter" on the side of the building yesterday. It's in the paper and on the news.

I'm sick to death of them. They are so hateful and vile.
 
Kimbosheart

Kimbosheart

Well-Known Member
naturalgyrl5199 said:
Whats wrong with him?
Click to expand...

In short, I don't find him an effective spokesperson. I do understand that he is trying to become our next gen civil rights leader and I respect that. I can also imagine that his presence is comforting to the victim's families but the law is very strategic in these cases and I prefer a more subtle approach and finesse. Save the theatrics and grandstanding for the jury.
 
S

Shula

Well-Known Member
MzLady78 said:
A family member of mine owns a business, and someone spray-painted "white lives matter" on the side of the building yesterday. It's in the paper and on the news.

I'm sick to death of them. They are so hateful and vile.
Click to expand...

Man, I'm sorry to hear that! I hope they catch the perps and punish them. It feels like we are reaching a boiling point. These racists are rabid, bolder. They are unhinged and it's reaching a fever pitch in all these colonial nations. And black folks are long past tired of allowing it which is understandable. We've had to look over and forgive a lot... Without a hint of justice in the mix. I hope your family gets the justice due. These folks are crazy.
 
Kimbosheart

Kimbosheart

Well-Known Member
Southernbella. said:
And yet many of us want to "catch up" with them.

Real talk, they're on the way to getting left behind, socially, and they know it. That's why they're lashing out.
Click to expand...

I truly believe this is why things have gotten worse. They cannot compete on a level playing field, and we all know this field is nowhere near level yet. I wouldn't be surprised if things continued to get worse for awhile before we see a true shift and progress.
 
S

Southernbella.

Well-Known Member
:)

Jacked from other board, bolding not mine.


2 black men arrested at Starbucks get an apology from police; Appear on GMA

Associated Press

April 19, 2018



PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Rashon Nelson initially brushed it off when the Starbucks manager told him he couldn’t use the restroom because he wasn’t a paying customer.

He thought nothing of it when he and his business partner, Donte Robinson, were approached at their table and were asked if they needed help. The 23-year-old entrepreneurs declined, explaining they were just waiting for a business meeting.

A few minutes later, they hardly noticed when the police walked into the coffee shop — until officers started walking in their direction.

“That’s when we knew she called the police on us,” Nelson told The Associated Press in the first interview by the two black men since video of their trespassing arrests April 12 touched off a furor around the U.S. over racial profiling, or what has been dubbed “retail racism” or “shopping while black.”

Nelson and Robinson, best friends since the fourth grade, were led away in handcuffs from the coffee shop in the city’s well-to-do Rittenhouse Square neighborhood, in an incident recorded on a white customer’s cellphone.

In the week since their arrests, the men have met with Starbucks’ apologetic CEO and have started pushing for lasting change.

“We do want to make sure it doesn’t happen to anybody again,” Robinson said. “What if it wasn’t us sitting there? What if it was the kid that didn’t know somebody that knew somebody? Do they make it to jail? Do they die? What happens?

While appearing on Good Morning America, Robinson said, “While “rule are rules,” Thursday’s incident is more about “what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong.”

“So what I want is for a young man or young men to not be traumatized by this and instead motivated, inspired.”

Nelson shared a similar sentiment, and said he was taking “this opportunity as a stepping stone to really stand up and show your greatness and that you are not judged by the color of your skin as our ancestors were.”

“Just really taking those actions and putting them in their place and help people understand that it’s not just a black people thing,” he said. “This is a people thing.”

On Thursday, they also got an apology from Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross, a black man who at first staunchly defended his officers’ handling of the incident.

Ross said he “failed miserably” in addressing the arrests. He said that the issue of race is not lost on him and that he shouldn’t be the person making things worse.

He said the police department did not have a policy for dealing for similar situations, but does now, and it will be released soon.

Nelson and Robinson said they went to the Starbucks to meet Andrew Yaffe, a white local businessman, over a potential real estate opportunity. Three police officers showed up not long after. Nelson said they weren’t questioned but were told to leave immediately.

Yaffe showed up as the men were being handcuffed and could be seen in the video demanding an explanation for the officers’ actions. Nelson and Robinson did not resist arrest.

“When you know that you did nothing wrong, how do you really react to it?” Nelson said. “You can either be ignorant or you can show some type of sophistication and act like you have class. That was the choice we had.”

It was hardly their first encounter with police. But neither had been arrested before, setting them apart from many of those they grew up with in their gritty southwest Philadelphia neighborhood.

Robinson said he briefly wondered what he might have done to bring the moment on himself. “I feel like I fell short,” he explained. “I’m trying to think of something I did wrong, to put not just me but my brother, my lifelong friend ... in this situation.”

Nelson and Robinson spent hours in a jail cell and were released after midnight, when the district attorney declined to prosecute them for trespassing.

Nelson said he wondered if he’d make it home alive.

“Any time I’m encountered by cops, I can honestly say it’s a thought that runs through my mind,” Nelson said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”

The men’s attorney, Stewart Cohen, said they were illegally profiled.

Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney, who is white, has said what happened at the Starbucks “appears to exemplify what racial discrimination looks like in 2018.”

But Ross, the police commissioner, initially said the arresting officers were just doing their job, acted professionally and “did absolutely nothing wrong,” and added that Nelson and Robinson were disrespectful to them.

The arrests prompted protests at the Starbucks and a national boycott. Kevin Johnson, CEO at Seattle-based Starbucks, came to Philadelphia to meet with the men. He called the arrests “reprehensible” and has ordered more than 8,000 of the company’s stores closed May 29 for training for nearly 175,000 employees on unconscious bias.

Robinson said that he appreciates the public support the men have received but that anger and boycotting Starbucks are not the solution.

The men said they are looking for more lasting results and are in mediation with Starbucks to make changes, including the posting in stores of a customer bill of rights; the adoption of new policies regarding customer ejections, racial profiling and racial discrimination; and independent investigations of complaints of discrimination.

“You go from being someone who’s just trying to be an entrepreneur, having your own dreams and aspirations, and then this happens,” Nelson said. “How do you handle it? Do you stand up? Do you fight? Do you sit down and just watch everyone else fight for you? Do you let it slide, like we let everything else slide with injustice?”
 
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naturalgyrl5199

naturalgyrl5199

Well-Known Member
Kimbosheart said:
In short, I don't find him an effective spokesperson. I do understand that he is trying to become our next gen civil rights leader and I respect that. I can also imagine that his presence is comforting to the victim's families but the law is very strategic in these cases and I prefer a more subtle approach and finesse. Save the theatrics and grandstanding for the jury.
Click to expand...
Got cha.....I live in the city he works in ---he recently closed his longtime practice (with a partner---mutual decision) to go independent thanks to the increased demand. People HATE the way he talks but in Florida he was that one lawyer who wasn't afraid to take lawmakers on in civil rights matters. He's been taking Fl lawmakers on since the Martin Anderson case which basically caused all youth prison camps to close for good in Florida.....that was over a decade ago.
 
naturalgyrl5199

naturalgyrl5199

Well-Known Member
Southernbella. said:
:)

Jacked from other board, bolding not mine.


2 black men arrested at Starbucks get an apology from police; Appear on GMA

Associated Press

April 19, 2018



PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Rashon Nelson initially brushed it off when the Starbucks manager told him he couldn’t use the restroom because he wasn’t a paying customer.

He thought nothing of it when he and his business partner, Donte Robinson, were approached at their table and were asked if they needed help. The 23-year-old entrepreneurs declined, explaining they were just waiting for a business meeting.

A few minutes later, they hardly noticed when the police walked into the coffee shop — until officers started walking in their direction.

“That’s when we knew she called the police on us,” Nelson told The Associated Press in the first interview by the two black men since video of their trespassing arrests April 12 touched off a furor around the U.S. over racial profiling, or what has been dubbed “retail racism” or “shopping while black.”

Nelson and Robinson, best friends since the fourth grade, were led away in handcuffs from the coffee shop in the city’s well-to-do Rittenhouse Square neighborhood, in an incident recorded on a white customer’s cellphone.

In the week since their arrests, the men have met with Starbucks’ apologetic CEO and have started pushing for lasting change.

“We do want to make sure it doesn’t happen to anybody again,” Robinson said. “What if it wasn’t us sitting there? What if it was the kid that didn’t know somebody that knew somebody? Do they make it to jail? Do they die? What happens?

While appearing on Good Morning America, Robinson said, “While “rule are rules,” Thursday’s incident is more about “what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong.”

“So what I want is for a young man or young men to not be traumatized by this and instead motivated, inspired.”

Nelson shared a similar sentiment, and said he was taking “this opportunity as a stepping stone to really stand up and show your greatness and that you are not judged by the color of your skin as our ancestors were.”

“Just really taking those actions and putting them in their place and help people understand that it’s not just a black people thing,” he said. “This is a people thing.”

On Thursday, they also got an apology from Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross, a black man who at first staunchly defended his officers’ handling of the incident.

Ross said he “failed miserably” in addressing the arrests. He said that the issue of race is not lost on him and that he shouldn’t be the person making things worse.

He said the police department did not have a policy for dealing for similar situations, but does now, and it will be released soon.

Nelson and Robinson said they went to the Starbucks to meet Andrew Yaffe, a white local businessman, over a potential real estate opportunity. Three police officers showed up not long after. Nelson said they weren’t questioned but were told to leave immediately.

Yaffe showed up as the men were being handcuffed and could be seen in the video demanding an explanation for the officers’ actions. Nelson and Robinson did not resist arrest.

“When you know that you did nothing wrong, how do you really react to it?” Nelson said. “You can either be ignorant or you can show some type of sophistication and act like you have class. That was the choice we had.”

It was hardly their first encounter with police. But neither had been arrested before, setting them apart from many of those they grew up with in their gritty southwest Philadelphia neighborhood.

Robinson said he briefly wondered what he might have done to bring the moment on himself. “I feel like I fell short,” he explained. “I’m trying to think of something I did wrong, to put not just me but my brother, my lifelong friend ... in this situation.”

Nelson and Robinson spent hours in a jail cell and were released after midnight, when the district attorney declined to prosecute them for trespassing.

Nelson said he wondered if he’d make it home alive.

“Any time I’m encountered by cops, I can honestly say it’s a thought that runs through my mind,” Nelson said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”

The men’s attorney, Stewart Cohen, said they were illegally profiled.

Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney, who is white, has said what happened at the Starbucks “appears to exemplify what racial discrimination looks like in 2018.”

But Ross, the police commissioner, initially said the arresting officers were just doing their job, acted professionally and “did absolutely nothing wrong,” and added that Nelson and Robinson were disrespectful to them.

The arrests prompted protests at the Starbucks and a national boycott. Kevin Johnson, CEO at Seattle-based Starbucks, came to Philadelphia to meet with the men. He called the arrests “reprehensible” and has ordered more than 8,000 of the company’s stores closed May 29 for training for nearly 175,000 employees on unconscious bias.

Robinson said that he appreciates the public support the men have received but that anger and boycotting Starbucks are not the solution. :disdain

The men said they are looking for more lasting results and are in mediation with Starbucks to make changes, including the posting in stores of a customer bill of rights; the adoption of new policies regarding customer ejections, racial profiling and racial discrimination; and independent investigations of complaints of discrimination.

“You go from being someone who’s just trying to be an entrepreneur, having your own dreams and aspirations, and then this happens,” Nelson said. “How do you handle it? Do you stand up? Do you fight? Do you sit down and just watch everyone else fight for you? Do you let it slide, like we let everything else slide with injustice?”
Click to expand...
I JUST read the article too....

Ima keep my thoughts to self.

ETA:..........Let me go.
 
Kimbosheart

Kimbosheart

Well-Known Member
naturalgyrl5199 said:
Got cha.....I live in the city he works in ---he recently closed his longtime practice (with a partner---mutual decision) to go independent thanks to the increased demand. People HATE the way he talks but in Florida he was that one lawyer who wasn't afraid to take lawmakers on in civil rights matters. He's been taking Fl lawmakers on since the Martin Anderson case which basically caused all youth prison camps to close for good in Florida.....that was over a decade ago.
Click to expand...

I remember that case. I lived in Tally for a bit too. I didn't know his practice closed but it makes sense. He's representing Stephan Clark's family.
 
S

Southernbella.

Well-Known Member
There are a few black folks on my timeline who are legit mad about this boycott. My feeling is fine, don't boycott, but stop trying to convince other people not to. I'm impressed with Starbucks response but make no mistake, they wouldn't be so on top of it if their money wasn't being threatened. That is why boycotts work.

30743251_10157441566991110_195685732277288960_n.jpg 30710750_10157441559981110_7868984937926361088_n.jpg 30743035_10157441559976110_1607744857487441920_n.jpg 30724456_10157441559956110_1642059898130792448_n.jpg
 
Crackers Phinn

Crackers Phinn

Either A Blessing Or A Lesson.
Robinson said that he appreciates the public support the men have received but that anger and boycotting Starbucks are not the solution.

Of course not, when these dudes and their lawyer sat in that meeting with the CEO, the chairman and Starbucks lawyers, everybody left the room with an understanding of the amount of money that was about to change hands in exchange for a cooperative effort.

People can continue to march holes in their shoes if they want to but this is already settled and SBUX will bend over backwards to maintain their image of a holistic, granola crunching, everybody's welcome, coffee slanging behemoth. Don't be surprised if you see pics of barista's coming out offering free water and coffee to protesters.

Now imagine how the police unions would regulate their members if it was their money at stake like Starbucks instead of taxpayer dollars? The only reason the police chief back tracked from his first statement is because I'm positive the CEO of Starbucks either made a phone call to city hall or had somebody call on his behalf.

I ain't got no inside info. this is playing out like a textbook MBA case study.
 
Dposh167

Dposh167

Well-Known Member
Crackers Phinn said:
People can continue to march holes in their shoes if they want to but this is already settled and SBUX will bend over backwards to maintain their image of a holistic, granola crunching, everybody's welcome, coffee slanging behemoth. Don't be surprised if you see pics of barista's coming out offering free water and coffee to protesters.
Click to expand...

LMAO
 
Shimmie

Shimmie

"God is the Only Truth -- Period"
Staff member
Robinson said that he appreciates the public support the men have received but that anger and boycotting Starbucks are not the solution.
Click to expand...

These men did not have to betray the ones who truly fought for them. The protestors fought their battle.

I'll be honest, Had I been in that meeting, they would hear me loud and clear that my dignity is not for sale.

Starbucks would have backed down and without any other choice. The 'ball' was in these two men's court. They still had / have a case. Starbucks was still going to pay up. That compromising comment about not boycotting and protesting was offensive, that's what 'saved' them.

All these men had to say was, "Thank you, Mr. CEO of Starbucks, however the greater appreciation is for all of those who stood up for us. The people who took time away from their families, their jobs, their vacations, all that entails their personal lives to take a stand against what happened to us. They are the true heroes here.

Their efforts are not for sale. You still gonna pay us for damages to what we went through. In jail all night, unjustly. However, were it not for those who stood for us, we would not be at this table with your apology and negotiations.

Bottomline: The boycott, the protests spoke loud and clear. They are the true 'friends' of these two men. Had they said nothing, then nothing would have been done to make amends such as taken place. Starbucks can easily use that 'day of closing their stores' as a tax write off and they surely will.
 
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