In a move that is sure to enrage shareholders, Starbucks is closing all of its company-owned stores on May 29 to teach it employees “racial bias training.”
On 5/29, we'll close US company-owned stores to conduct racial-bias training to address implicit bias & prevent discrimination. We're taking a hard look at who we are as a company. We’re ashamed & recognize that racial bias is a problem we must address. https://t.co/xIYc75BJPj
— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) April 17, 2018
“We’re taking a hard look at who we are as a company, said the company on Twitter. “We’re ashamed & recognize that racial bias is a problem we must address.”
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The company said that the training will address implicit racial bias in hopes of preventing discrimination.
The announcement follows negative press garnered by the company after two black men were arrested for sitting inside a Philadelphia store without purchasing anything.
But, as Big League Politics reported, the allegations of racial discrimination against the company are unfounded. The men were trespassing, were asked to leave, and refused. Only then were the police called.
The Philadelphia Police Commissioner, who is black, backed his officers, saying that they carried out their legal duty with professionalism. Worth noting, the Chief of Police in Philadelphia is Charles H. Ramsey, also a black man.
“Commissioner Richard Ross said Starbucks employees called 911 to say the men were trespassing. He said officers were told that the men had come in and asked to use the restroom but were denied because they hadn’t bought anything, as he said is company policy. He said they then refused to leave.
Ross, who is black, said police asked the men to leave three times but they refused, and they were then arrested but were later released after the company elected not to prosecute. He said the officers “did absolutely nothing wrong” and were professional in their conduct toward the individuals but “got the opposite back.” He did not mention the person who said he was meeting with the men.
“As an African American male, I am very aware of implicit bias; we are committed to fair and unbiased policing,” Ross said. But he added “If a business calls and they say that ‘Someone is here that I no longer wish to be in my business’ (officers) now have a legal obligation to carry out their duties and they did just that.”
But none of the factual evidence surrounding the event will deter Starbucks’ social justice CEO, Kevin Johnson, from foregoing millions of dollars in profits to close every single store for a day.
“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 in a company statement.
Starbucks makes $10.7 billion in revenue annually. That is more than $29 million in revenue per day, which Starbucks is readily willing to flush down the drain to appease a tiny percent of the population who will always be outraged, regardless of how many hours of “implicit bias training” the company employees sleep through.
Are Starbucks shareholders really willing to make this sacrifice?
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