Starbucks stores closing for anti-discrimination training
People looking for coffee Tuesday afternoon will have to go somewhere else other than Starbucks.
The coffee chain will close more than 8,000 company-owned stores Tuesday afternoon to conduct “racial-bias education geared toward preventing discrimination in our stores.”
Some customers felt it was an all-around good move.
“They’re stepping forward,” Bob Leo of Palm Desert, said. “Maybe they’re going to assume a leadership role for other corporations to take a look at this.”
Others were pessimistic whether any change would happen.
“You can change behavior for employees, whether you can change people’s hearts or not, I don’t know if that will happen,” Gary Kirkland of Palm Desert said.
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The move comes in response to a nationwide outcry over the April arrests of two black men who were sitting in a Philadelphia Starbucks store, having done nothing wrong while waiting for a friend. The men were ultimately released.
Donte Robinson and Rashon Nelson had asked to use the restroom at a downtown Philadelphia Starbucks on April 12 as they waited to have a meeting but were told only paying customers could do so. They then sat down without making a purchase. A manager called police after the men declined to leave as they waited for their acquaintance.
Nelson and Robinson were arrested on suspicion of trespassing but no charges were filed. Video of the incident went viral, sparking calls for boycotts.
Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson apologized for the arrests, calling them “reprehensible,” and Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross, who is black, apologized as well, saying he made the arrests worse by initially defending them.
“While this is not limited to Starbucks, we’re committed to being a part of the solution. Closing our stores for racial bias training is just one step in a journey that requires dedication from every level of our company and partnerships in our local communities,” Johnson said.
According to the company, employees at its stores will undergo training “to address implicit bias, promote conscious inclusion, prevent discrimination and ensure everyone inside a Starbucks store feels safe and welcome.”
Company executives said the curriculum is being developed with the help of national and local experts on confronting racial bias, including officials from the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League and the Equal Justice Initiative, along with former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
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