Starbucks closing U.S. stores on May 29 for racial-bias training

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Zlati Meyer, USA TODAY




Starbucks will close all its company-owned stores in the U.S. during the afternoon of May 29 in order to give racial-bias training to employees, an outgrowth of the incident involving two African-American men at one of its coffee shops in Philadelphia last week.

The anti-discrimination instruction is "designed to address implicit bias, promote conscious inclusion, prevent discrimination and ensure everyone inside a Starbucks store feels safe and welcome," according to the company announcement made on Tuesday.

The Seattle-based chain has come under fire after staff at one of its Philadelphia locations called the police on two African-American men when they didn't buy anything and asked to use the restrooms. The men were told restrooms were only for paying customers only and they explained they were waiting for a friend, who later arrived. Police arrested them, though Starbucks didn't press charges.

The CEO apologized for Thursday's incident and on Monday, the coffee giant confirmed that the Philadelphia employee who called the police is no longer with the company.

There are more than 8,000 company-owned Starbucks restaurants in the country, employing close to 175,000 people, the company said.

"While this is not limited to Starbucks, we’re committed to being a part of the solution," CEO Kevin Johnson said in a statement. "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."

The curriculum will be developed with help from national and local experts, including former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder; Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund; Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative; Heather McGhee, president of the public-policy public policy organization Demos; and Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League.

According to Starbucks, the panel will also help review "the effectiveness of the measures" the company undertakes.

"Earlier this week, Starbucks began a review of its training and practices to make important reforms where necessary to ensure our stores always represent our mission and values by providing a safe and inclusive environment for our customers and partners," the company said.

According to Starbucks, the racial-bias training materials will be made available to other companies to use.

The chain has more 25,000 stores around the world.

[Muddy]

Oh fuck off. I dont drink that shit and I am glad. And to the white girl out front, I hope you realize that when the shit hits the fan you aren't going to get a pass from those finger pointing racist alarmists either...

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Honestly I don't see what the employees did wrong. The two men were at Starbucks. They didn't buy anything but asked to use the bathroom. Clerk said restrooms are only for paying customers. All other stories I saw said the clerk asked the men to leave and they refused to leave. So, she called the police. The police asked them to leave and they still refused. So, because a trespassing complaint was made, the police arrested them and escorted them out of the store. Starbucks dropped the charges.

If these two asshats had just left and gone outside to wait for their friend, this never would have happened. If you ask me, even though they "did nothing wrong" as claimed by everyone, they were looking for some reason to be able to play the race card.

So remember folks, feel free to use the restrooms at Starbucks now any time you want for any reason, and you don't have to buy a thing because that's the precedent they have just set here.

Oh, I'm sorry, this was an example of corporate America harassing the black man yet again.

[PorkChopSandwiches]

[RBP]

[lost in melb.]

Honestly I don't see what the employees did wrong. The two men were at Starbucks. They didn't buy anything but asked to use the bathroom. Clerk said restrooms are only for paying customers. All other stories I saw said the clerk asked the men to leave and they refused to leave. So, she called the police. The police asked them to leave and they still refused. So, because a trespassing complaint was made, the police arrested them and escorted them out of the store. Starbucks dropped the charges.

If these two asshats had just left and gone outside to wait for their friend, this never would have happened. If you ask me, even though they "did nothing wrong" as claimed by everyone, they were looking for some reason to be able to play the race card.

So remember folks, feel free to use the restrooms at Starbucks now any time you want for any reason, and you don't have to buy a thing because that's the precedent they have just set here.

Oh, I'm sorry, this was an example of corporate America harassing the black man yet again.

And the officer in charge who ordered the arrest was black...

They could have easily ordered a 2 doller coffee, and been a bit more appreciative of the shop that was giving them a free table. Not to mention they were dressed like complete bums.

I still think the arrest was over the top, but man, they weren't helping their situation at all

[Godfather]

[lost in melb.]

Whitey loser

[RBP]

The two guys arrested claim police were called "within 2 minutes". This ridiculous story won't quit. Stop, MSM, just stop.

Police were called within 2 minutes of black men arriving at Philadelphia Starbucks

[Teh One Who Knocks]

The two guys arrested claim police were called "within 2 minutes". This ridiculous story won't quit. Stop, MSM, just stop.

Police were called within 2 minutes of black men arriving at Philadelphia Starbucks

Excerpts from the linked story and another one from HuffPo:

Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday and described their arrest. They said they went to Starbucks for a business meeting that they believed would change their lives.

That's how you dress for a business meeting that will change your lfe?

Police didn’t explain why they were being arrested, Robinson said.

“We wasn’t read any rights ― nothing,” Robinson said. “Just double-lock handcuffs behind our backs and escorted out and put into a squad car.”

Bullshit, you can't be arrested without being told why and having your rights read to you. And his grasp of the English language definitely makes him sound like a businessman

Nelson said they had been working on the business meeting for months.

“We were there for a real reason, a real deal that we were working on,” Robinson explained. “We put in a lot of time, energy, effort. … We were at a moment that could have a positive impact on a whole ladder of people, lives, families. So I was like, ‘No, you’re not stopping that right now.'”

I always conduct my important business meetings at Starbucks

Robinson said he thought about his loved ones and how the afternoon had taken such a turn as he was taken to jail. Nelson wondered if he’d make it home alive.

The two men are now involved in mediation with Starbucks, which they hope will lead to lasting change, such as requiring a customer bill of rights to be posted in stores and new policies for customer ejections and racial profiling.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you need to buy something to be a customer?

On Wednesday, Johnson and Starbucks founder Howard Schultz met with Philadelphia church and community leaders.

Rev. Gregory Holston, executive director of POWER, a group that helped organize the meeting, said he was “cautiously optimistic” about Starbucks’ response.

In addition to the bias training, Starbucks leaders were pressed in the meeting on raising wages, on hiring workers who have been incarcerated and on their role in gentrifying neighborhoods.

“We are challenging them to take the lead in supporting racial justice organizations and speaking to other companies to join the cause,” Holston said.

The more this unfolds, the more it sounds like the whole thing was a set-up. Where's the surveillance video from the store showing that they were just there for "two minutes" before the cops were called. And from the earlier stories (it seems that their story has 'evolved') that before they were arrested, the cops asked them to buy something or leave and they refused.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

And this is from a story (from the 17th) about the release of the 911 call. Notice how their story has changed since it originally broke:

According to the audio compilation, posted on the department’s YouTube page, a female caller dialed 911 at 4:37 p.m. and calmly spoke to an operator, saying: “Hi, I have two gentlemen in my cafe who are refusing to make a purchase or leave.” The operator said she would send police to the store at 18th and Spruce Streets, and the call ended.

Three minutes later, a male radio dispatcher said a “group of males” was “refusing to leave,” according to the audio compilation. Capt. Sekou Kinebrew, police spokesman, said Tuesday night that the 911 operator had not specified in her notes to the dispatching system how many men were at the store, which likely led the radio dispatcher to describe the men as a “group.”

About four minutes after that radio call, a man said over the radio that a “group of males” was “causing a disturbance” and called for backup and a supervisor. The final radio call was made at 5 p.m., with an officer reporting the arrests of the two men.

The police incident report, obtained Tuesday by the Inquirer and Daily News, said the two men — who have not been identified — cursed at the store manager and refused to leave even though officers asked “multiple times.” It also accused the men of insulting the police by saying, “Cops don’t know the laws,” and “Y’all make 45G a year,” remarks to which Police Commissioner Richard Ross alluded in his explanation of the events, released on video Saturday.

The report categorized the incident as “defiant trespass,” although the District Attorney’s Office ultimately declined to charge either man with a crime.

Taken together, the audio recordings and police report provide the most complete accounting yet of how officers were summoned to the Starbucks, communicated with dispatchers before arresting the two men, and justified taking them into custody.The executive director of the Police Advisory Commission, a civilian oversight board, also said Monday that the officers had acted “in accordance with the law” and did not violate department policies, but noted that “we cannot discount the likelihood that the race of these men played an integral part in the precipitation and overall outcome of this incident.”

[RBP]

It's complete bullshit.

[lost in melb.]

That's how you dress for a business meeting that will change your lfe?

He hadn't even tied the drawstring on his loafers, ffs.

[DemonGeminiX]

[Godfather]

I just don't know who buys this story? Two guys go in, ask to use the restroom, are denied, decide not to leave then get arrested by a cop (of the same) race while 'fearing for their lives' all because they were black? Does that story sounds even remotely complete to anyone on this earth?

This shit only happens to people acting like complete and total belligerent assholes. We all fucking know it.