Starbucks is in the middle of learning a hard lesson about progressivism. In our hyper-sensitive, safe-space culture, attempting to go the extra mile to appease one group, just ends up offending another.
The PR nightmare for Starbucks began with the recent arrest of two black men for apparently loitering inside a Philadelphia Starbucks without making a purchase. The incident became a national sensation. Starbucks fretted for several days over what to do to atone for their Jim Crow sins and refocus America’s attention on the $40 lattes.
They finally decided to close all 8,000-plus Starbucks locations for one day at the end of this month. Employees will get mandatory remedial training in how not to racially profile customers and cart them off to jail.
By making sure the world knows about their mandatory day of proper grief, remorse, apology and reparation, Starbucks hopes to avoid the boycott that incidents like this trigger these days.
But now the problem is who to invite to organize this anti-bias training. They’ve already decided to exclude the Anti-Defamation League, which combats anti-Semitism. The ADL was originally supposed to help develop the curriculum for the epic training day. But the ADL has been demoted because of pressure on Starbucks, mainly from Black Lives Matter.
Women’s March organizer Tamika Mallory tweeted, “The ADL is CONSTANTLY attacking black and brown people. This is a sign that they [Starbucks] are tone deaf and not committed to addressing the concerns of black folk.”
The Starbucks anti-bias training is quickly developing into the perfect progressive storm.
Yes, she actually said “black folk.”
Black Lives Matter leader Cat Brooks says the ADL can’t participate because they “openly support a racist, oppressive and brutal colonization of Palestine.”
The Washington, DC chapter of Black Lives Matter called the ADL “ultra pro-cop,” which, I guess puts you on the naughty list with Black Lives Matter.
Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson denies that they caved to political pressure in shunning the ADL, which means they totally did.
The Starbucks anti-bias training is quickly developing into the perfect progressive storm. Barely into the design phase, a training program with the goal of rooting out discrimination is already discriminating. Sounds about right.
