You order your Starbucks coffee black, it must be to go.
Bada bing. Only it’s not funny.
What Starbucks surely knows is that it’s a hip, wi-fied gathering spot and pivot point. Theirs is a carefully cultivated community and neighborhood identity. People meet up, hang out, close deals, shoot the breeze. Overpriced lattes and mochas are means to an end for much of their customer base. And the formula works wonderfully.
But how much common sense does it take to make sure your managers aren’t so dumb and insensitive–and carriers of “unconscious bias”–that they wouldn’t be welcome as progressive, entrepreneurial customers? This is about common sense, common courtesy and, ultimately, enlightened self interest. Makes it seem as if that past Starbucks campaign to start a national “conversation” on race relations was more public relations than public policy.
Hardly helping on the Philadelphia incident were the police officers who didn’t need to handcuff and arrest two black guys who wanted to use a restroom while awaiting a white, would-be business partner. And the Philly police chief didn’t need to remind everybody that house negroes with authority remain part of the problem.