Two black men were arrested at a Starbucks Coffee store in Philadelphia last week after getting a call from a store manager. The men arrested attempted to use the store’s bathrooms without purchasing anything and then refused to leave. They were reportedly meeting with a real estate investor.
Whether she was fired or politely asked to resign, Starbucks won’t say, but reports indicate the store manager who called the cops is no longer working for the company.
Starbucks CEO was “sick to his stomach”, “embarrassed”, and “ashamed” over what happened. So, on May 29, Starbucks will close all corporate stores and offices to hold racial sensitivity training.
Sayeth Schultz:
“I’m embarrassed, ashamed. I think what occurred was reprehensible at every single level. I think I take it very personally as everyone in our company does and we’re committed to making it right. The announcement we made yesterday about closing our stores, 8,000 stores closed, to do significant training with our people is just the beginning of what we will do to transform the way we do business and educate our people on unconscious bias,” Schultz said.”It will cost millions of dollars, but I’ve always viewed this and things like this as not an expense, but an investment in our people and our company. And we’re better than this,” he said of the company’s plan to close on May 29.
It’s gonna cost him so much money, you guys. But Starbucks is hyper socially responsible so it’s totally worth the millions they’re flushing down the tubes to prove to everyone they’re super not racist.
Black Lives Matter targeted the store where the two men were arrested and is calling for a boycott. A picture of Asa Khalif, a BLM activist, holding a bullhorn during a protest Sunday has made its way into internet meme lore in the best of ways.
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