Starbucks To Employees – Leave Room… For Racial Sensitivity

This week Starbucks flexed its racial sensitivity muscles by closing 8,000 stores and all but requiring the art school dropouts and prison escapees working the counters to attend a four-hour-long company-wide racial bias meeting. During the powwow (wait, is that a no-no word now?) Starbucks stressed the struggles of African Americans, going so far as to commission a documentary short from filmmaker Stanley Nelson. The gaslighting effort was spurred by a Philadelphia police takedown of two black men who spent hours in a Starbucks without ordering anything. The manager – whose ass has since been canned by Starbucks – presumably wanted only paying patrons in her establishment. Racist bitch. The video of the incident quickly went viral, and voila, four-hour-long racial sensitivity training was born.

Critics are pointing out that racial bias is a cumulation of years of experiences and influences, and that a successful, long-term change of values can only be achieved by additional years of deep introspection and an earnest desire to change. Not a forced training that doubles as a Starbucks #ad. In addition, TMZ got its hands on the actual handouts during the meeting, which seem to skirt workplace rights by making employees discuss their own race and experiences with race. Some of the questions even directly address employees who are POC – including asking them to detail experiences of wearing their hair naturally at work. As an employee of the dark web I don’t really know what’s PC anymore, but the effort feels, if nothing else, PrObLeMaTiC. Don’t worry, restrict myself to using that word once a year. What do you guys think of Starbuck’s training? Has racism in American gone from a Venti to a Tall? Does anyone even give a crappuccino?

Photo Credit: YouTube