"Are you going to boycott Starbucks?"

April 21, 2018

The question came from my husband who has been witness to my many social justice boycotts (#deleteUBER, Hobby Lobby, Chick-fil-a). I’m sure he was wondering how the arrest of two black men sitting quietly waiting to meet someone in a Philadelphia Starbucks was going to affect my twice-daily Starbucks run (in the morning for chai tea and the afternoon for a Cool Lime Refresher).

In the past, my immediate reaction to hearing the news about the arrest would have been incredulous shock (how is this still happening in this day and time?), but I’ve listened to my African American friends who tell SO. MANY. SIMILAR. STORIES. Sadly, I have been clueless. There was a time when I thought that 153 years after the 13th Amendment was passed abolishing slavery, and 54 years after the Civil Rights Act was passed, which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin, that we would all be able to sit quietly in Starbucks, or any other establishment, without fear of being arrested.

Just a few months ago, I spent 3 hours each in 2 different Starbucks in Oklahoma on 3 consecutive days. I do not live in Oklahoma, so these are not Starbucks that I frequent. I was in Oklahoma for the holidays, and had agreed to participate in video interviews for the Safe States Alliance who was hiring a new executive director. I needed Internet access to participate in the interviews, so I went to Starbucks. I got there early to make sure the technology on my laptop worked, and sat in a chair in the corner each day with my laptop and headphones while we conducted the interviews. It never occurred to me that I would be asked to leave or that I would be arrested for just sitting there. Of course, neither happened. But this is something that Americans of different races and ethnicities have to deal with every day. It sickens me.

There was a time when I was uncomfortable with talking about race with my African American friends because I wanted them to see that color didn’t matter to me. Now, I think I’ve done them a disservice because I denied them the opportunity to tell me how race has shaped their perspective.

So now, I’m listening.

I’m listening to my colleague, Dr. Brian Williams, who so poignantly spoke about his feelings following the shooting of law enforcement officers in Dallas on July 7, 2016. Dr. Williams’ latest commentary, entitled "Racism isn't going to steal my weekly Starbucks breakfast with my daughter," can be found in the April 20, 2018 edition of the Dallas Morning News.

I’m listening to my other African American friends describe how they are treated differently at restaurants, other retail establishments, and even professionally because of their race. I listen to their stories about the things they do to not be viewed as the “angry black man or woman.”

I’m listening and learning. Like New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu in his book, In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History, I’m not trying to justify the sins of my ancestors. As former President George W. Bush said at the dedication ceremony for the National Museum of African American History & Culture, "A great nation does not hide its history. It faces its flaws and corrects them."

Following the incident at the Starbucks in Philadelphia on April 12, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson released a statement calling the incident “reprehensible,” and apologized to the two men. Starbucks Founder and Chair of the Board of Directors Howard Shultz said that he was “ashamed” and “embarrassed” by the incident. Starbucks has announced that on May 29, the company will close 8,000 stores to conduct racial bias training.

I’m grateful for the way that Starbucks has handled the situation. I feel good about the white customers at Starbucks that tried to prevent the arrest, but clearly, there is so much we still need to do.

So, no, I’m not going to boycott Starbucks. But, I am going to keep listening, and learning, and trying to correct our flaws.