Free Republic

Starbucks executive chairman Howard Schultz said on Tuesday that President Trump's rhetoric on race is partly to blame for the country's "racial divide." Schultz said he believes the president has given people license to copy the "behavior and language that comes out of this administration," in an interview with CNN Tuesday. "Having said that, the racial divide and the inequities that exist between people of color and caucasians in America is a problem that's existed for quite some time and I think — we have to ask ourselves a very important question and that is, what kind of country do...

Portland, OR [snip]..... The forum comes weeks after [Starbucks CEO Howard] Schultz called on other CEOs to halt contributions to U.S. political campaigns until the nation's leaders become financially disciplined and stop their political wrangling. The CEOs of more than 100 companies, from AOL to Zipcar, joined Schultz in his pledge to halt contributions and do what they could to stimulate growth in their industries. Schultz, who heads Seattle-based Starbucks, which operates more than 17,000 stores globally, said he was moved to hold the forum after receiving hundreds of emails and letters from citizens. They were struggling to find jobs,...