The Race Conversation Starbucks Wants You to Have

National Review ^ | March 20, 2015 | MONA CHAREN

[Steelfish]

The Race Conversation Starbucks Wants You to Have

by MONA CHAREN March 20, 2015

Unfortunately, it’s likely to be just as “honest” as all the previous ones. Starbucks is hoping to lead a national conversation about race. According to a video released by founder Howard Schultz, Starbucks barristas are encouraged to scrawl “race together” on coffee cups before placing them in the hands of customers. This hollow bit of moral exhibitionism is supposed to encourage “compassion,” “honesty,” “empathy,” and “love.”

Does Starbucks sell caffeine-free compassion? Each and every time we’re hectored to engage in an “honest conversation” about race, it’s a sham. What’s wanted is not honesty, but confession of sin by white people and expressions of pain from blacks and others. Decade after decade, despite vastly diminishing levels of white racism (and the rapid growth of non-white populations), we are told that the old stain of racism continues to poison the lives of minorities. By encouraging that fiction, Starbucks is subtracting from racial understanding.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Saturday Night Live is going to have a field day with this one...!

[alloysteel]

“Race together” conjures up a totally different picture in my mind. That means that a bunch of individuals randomly gets together, agree to a foot race (or automobile race, or bicycle race, or horse race, or whatever), line up at a starting line, and all take off towards a designated goal, and the first one there is declared the winner.

Competition mostly based on merit.

Starbucks is based more on LACK of merit.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Can I just get my coffee without a group hug...? Jeez Louise!

[EnigmaticAnomaly]

IMHO, this country will NEVER be ready to hear the truth on what is needed to solve our race issues.

[Vigilanteman]

We had this whole problem nearly solved back in the 1970s before the racial grievance industry saw their revenue stream slipping away. Two of my best friends in high school were a Hispanic kid named Ricardo and a Jewish kid named Michael. They introduced themselves as Rick the Spic and Mike the Kike, respectively. I went by an equally politically incorrect moniker based on my Native American heritage.

When a black kid moved in, he joined our little clique and we all pitched in to buy him a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket as a welcome joke. Instead of being insulted, he just remarked "Dammit! Where's the watermelon?"

Seriously, that's the way things were in the midwestern town where I grew up. No hypersensitivity. Everybody just joked around and got along. Everyone of us went on to productive careers and well-adjusted families. Today, we would probably have all gotten suspended for ethnically insensitive and non-PC remarks.

[GilGil]

I expect Starbucks to crash and burn. I remember when JCPenney hired Ellen Degeneres as an gay advertisement icon. They thought looking really politically correct would get them lots of biz. Basically the ship was sinking so fast they had no idea what to do. 6 months later they went bust.

Isn’t it interesting how Starbucks can lecture us on race but Chick-fil-a can’t have religious beliefs?

Now Starbucks is doing this. I suspect the coffee biz is not what it used to be. I’d expect massive lay offs and closures in the coming 6-12 months.

Just shut your mouth and concentrate on giving me a good cup of coffee. If you cannot I’ll go somewhere else.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

IMHO, this country will NEVER be ready to hear the truth on what is needed to solve our race issues.
...and the LAST place it will get started is at Starbucks

[driftless2]

I live in a area with a large number of people of Norwegian descent. The Norwegians (or Norskies as they're sometimes called) are the butt of frequent jokes by all and sundry. Ole and Lena and lutefisk and lefse. The jokes usually reflect on the supposed lack of intelligence, backwardness, or unawareness of Norwegians. And thanks to the jokes, there are a number of non-Norwegian people I've met who really believe Norwegians are not very bright.

But here's the thing...many of the people who are fondest of telling Norwegian jokes are Norwegians themselves. And since I've had a DNA analysis done which found I'm about one percent Norwegian, maybe I'm laughing at myself when I tell an Ole and Lena joke.

[Steely Tom]

I never go to Starbucks, and never will.

[21twelve]

All four of my grandparents were Norwegian, coming over here (alone and in their late teens).

I grew up with Ole and Lena jokes and lutefisk. The jokes are still funny. And the lutefisk is still awful. (Well, I wouldn’t know I guess - it’s been 40 years since my mom made me try some.)

[Steely Tom]

I expect Starbucks to crash and burn. I remember when JCPenney hired Ellen Degeneres as an gay advertisement icon. They thought looking really politically correct would get them lots of biz. Basically the ship was sinking so fast they had no idea what to do. 6 months later they went bust.

There are two possibilities, as I see it:

1. They gambled on the chance that there were a lot more homosexuals in the market than the one or two percent that the best objective measures repeatedly show; therefore, by kowtowing to this market segment, Penney's thought they would tap into an underserviced population that would help their bottom line, or...
2. Their then-CEO never believed this would help Penney's make more money for their shareholders, instead believing it would serve some higher purpose if he used the marketing and advertising resources of the JCPenney corporation to push a generalized message of "tolerance" and "inclusion," thereby "making the world a better place."

Now that he's out as CEO (along with other members of his team from Apple), I haven't heard anything from Ron Johnson. I would think business publication might be interested in locating him and basically asking him "what was up with that?" But I guess not.

[Blue Jays]

My new concern is if a Starbucks employee seeks to engage me in a conversation about race relations, and I respond, "No thank you, can I please have my latte?" they will feel rebuffed...and will spit in my drink!

[Terry L Smith]

Perfect answer to the stupid cup.

“Why did you put INK on the side of my PAPER coffee cup? are you trying to poison me?
And as far as your stupid little idea, y’all are immigrants. I’m Mojave!”

[Mike Darancette]

I wonder if Michael Brown would get words of wisdom on his cup?

[22202NOVA]

“Pants up! Don’t loot!”

[ilovesarah2012]

How many black neighbors does Howard Schultz have?

[ilovesarah2012]

It might be worthwhile to note that Kenyans always win the Boston Marathon.

[Steelfish]

Great question!

[ilovesarah2012]

I worked with a lot of black people, mostly women and we all got along fine. I always say we would be okay if “they” just left everyone alone.