Close your eyes and imagine Starbucks: you think of the smell of coffee, big comfy chairs, light music, and probably a long line. This is exactly what set the chain apart to begin with, it offered something drive-thru coffee places didn’t: a comfortable environment to hang out, chat over coffee, and crank out work with free WiFi. In other words, Starbucks supposedly offers a perfect community meeting place, it’s mission boating with words like “nurture,” “inspire,” and “neighborhood.”
Maybe that’s why it is so off-putting to hear that in center city Philadelphia, two African American men were placed in handcuffs after being denied access to the store’s private restroom because they had not ordered anything. The two men had refused to leave as they were waiting for their white friend. Their friend arrived to the store as the two men were being placed in handcuffs.
Being denied access to the restroom when you aren’t purchasing anything isn’t uncommon but appearance should never matter when it comes to this. Whether an individual is neatly groomed, or wearing second hand clothing, they should be treated equally. Especially considering this was an instance of racial bias. White witnesses at the scene even admitted to having spent hours in that Starbucks before without being asked to leave. My own friend, who happens to be white and attends the University of Colorado Boulder, spends her nights studying at an off campus Starbucks and rarely orders anything. She was never once was asked to leave.
Store policies must remain consistent about the circumstances in which an employee can ask a person to leave the store, and at what level the cops need to intervene. The executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania told USA Today’s Charisse Jones that “there’s only a certain amount of leeway” that store managers have in asking customers to leave their store, especially if it is because of a peak rush of customers, or a customer taking up space.
Starbucks has yet to reveal their store policy, which they are in the process of rewriting to make very clear what is and is not okay. In the meantime, 8,000 Starbucks will be shut down May 29 for anti-discrimination training. The Starbucks in center city fired the worker who called the cops on the two African American men.
While I think these are great steps in the right direction, Starbucks needs to do more and rethink their mission. If they want the mom and pop feel to a chain coffee shop where people are invited in to get work done, they must promote it in every way possible.
I couldn’t imagine being kicked out of a community place like Starbucks because of my appearance, especially if I was sitting waiting for a friend, an actual customer, to join me. No one should have to be put through that kind of profiling, and what happened at 18th and Spruce is unacceptable. For now, I am happy to walk the extra distance to Dunkin’ Donuts until Starbucks gets the reality check it needs.