Starbucks shuts 8,000 US stores for racial bias training

NEW YORK, United States - Starbucks closed more than 8,000 stores on Tuesday to train around 175,000 employees against racial bias, an unprecedented public operation that highlights America's ongoing struggle with discrimination.

The move follows the April 12 arrest of two black men in a Philadelphia Starbucks, which sparked outrage, protests and soul-searching about racial tensions that have deteriorated under President Donald Trump.

For many, the training was overshadowed by ABC's decision to cancel hit sitcom "Roseanne" after its star Roseanne Barr, a Trump supporter, made a remark decried as racist against former White House aide Valerie Jarrett.

"We realize that four hours of training is not going to solve racial inequity in America or anyone coming into our stores who may have a problem," Starbucks executive chairman Howard Schultz admitted on CNN.

"But we have to start the conversation."

While store managers declined to talk to media and the press was not invited to the training sessions, staff were to watch taped messages from Schultz and CEO Kevin Johnson, as well as a message from Common, the rapper and activist.

Employees will watch a film from documentary maker Stanley Nelson on African American history and the civil rights struggle, before discussing in groups their own experience of racial discrimination.

The curriculum, to be made available at a later date, was drawn up in consultation with US president Barack Obama's former attorney general Eric Holder and civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson, among others.

As a result, frappuccino lovers had to shop elsewhere. The coffee giant said it was designed to make Starbucks "a place where all people feel welcome."

The company pledged to integrate further trainings in the United States and around the world. Starbucks has 25,000 coffee shops in 70 countries.

Estimated to cost Starbucks $12-14 million in lost sales, the exercise was criticized by some as virtue signaling, but has been cautiously welcomed by black officials and activists.

Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and one of those consulted on the curriculum, said it "created an important window" for retail corporations "to honestly and forthrightly tackle racial inequality."

'IF IT IS GENUINE'

In New York and Washington, Starbucks customers who dashed out for a sandwich or a caffeine fix before it was too late welcomed the move.

"Smart idea. It should have been done a while ago," sales rep Chad Mittleman, 31, told AFP in Midtown Manhattan.

"If it is actually genuine and not a PR move, it will be a good thing," said Devon Smith, a 31-year-old African American on L Street near the White House.

"At the end of the day, it is all in the attitude and belief of the individual employee," he said. "It's good but I don't know whether it will bring definitive change."

Starbucks announced the training on April 17 as it battled to contain outrage over the arrest of Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, apologizing and adopting an open bathroom policy to non-paying customers.

After Nelson and Robinson stepped into the cafe, one of them asked to use the restroom while waiting for a third person to arrive for a business meeting. 

Staff refused, on the grounds that he was not a customer. After the pair sat down to wait, the manager called the police.

A video that went viral showed uniformed officers questioning then handcuffing the two men, who put up no resistance, while a white client repeatedly asks an officer, "What'd they do? What'd they do?"

But US social networks have been rocked by a slew of other recent examples of racial discrimination going viral. A student called the police in May when a black graduate student at Yale University fell asleep in a common room.

Earlier this month, a 22-year-old black man was choked by police at a Waffle House in North Carolina after taking his sister to prom, the fourth incident at outlets of the restaurant to attract national attention in less than two weeks.

Other large companies have also adopted racial bias training, albeit with less fanfare. Target introduced its first unconscious bias sessions in 2017, which it says are being rolled out across the company.

American Airlines announced last year that it would train 120,000 employees after the civil rights group NAACP warned against "a pattern of disturbing incidents" reported by African-American passengers specific to the company.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Policeman who shot dead Ferguson teenager resigns

FERGUSON - The white policeman who shot dead an unarmed black teenager in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson has resigned, but it failed to deter angry protesters demanding justice and reform.

Darren Wilson left the force citing fears for the safety of local residents and fellow police officers, according to a letter published by local media Saturday. Wilson wrote in his letter that "it is my hope that my resignation will allow the community to heal."

A grand jury decision on Monday not to charge Wilson in connection with the August 9 shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown touched off days of sporadic violence in Ferguson as well as demonstrations in several major cities across the United States.

The decision revived long-standing questions about how police, especially white officers, interact with African Americans -- questions raised again after last week's shooting in Cleveland of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.

"It was my hope to continue in police work, but the safety of other police officers and the community are of paramount importance to me," the letter from the 28-year-old Wilson said.

Dozens of demonstrators again gathered outside Ferguson police station despite his decision to quit, with protesters setting fire to a US flag and jeering at police officers.

One man, who gave his name as "Kenny," said: "I'm mad as hell. Every night we're going to be here."

There was also a brief standoff outside a bar between demonstrators and riot police before organizers moved protesters along.



- Justice march -

Earlier Saturday, a core group of about 100 marchers, many from other US states, set out on a 120-mile (192-kilometer) "Journey for Justice," heading from Ferguson -- a mainly black suburb -- to the Missouri state capital Jefferson City.

The marchers, organized by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), are demanding the sacking of the Ferguson police chief, nationwide police reforms and an end to racial profiling.

"We will fight until hell freezes over, and then we will fight on the ice," NAACP president Cornell William Brooks told supporters at Washington Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church before setting out.

"What we're endeavoring to do here is seek justice for a grieving family as well as systemic, fundamental reform in terms of policing for an outraged community.

"When you have a 12-year-old child who is killed with a toy gun in his hand, there is something fundamentally wrong."

Eugene Gillis, a trumpeter who plays at the nightly protests, said young protesters feel alienated and reject the older generation of activists molded by slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Most of these young people say these people are out here for photo ops and that's what aggravates the issue," Gillis told AFP.

Brooks, dressed in neat jeans and a sweater, prayed and fell to his knees in reflection at Brown's memorial while surrounded by a media scrum.

Mobbed by TV cameras, he then led the march in one direction before turning around and heading back the opposite way, marching into West Florissant Avenue, where some of the worst looting and arson took place after Monday's announcement that Wilson will not be charged.



- Washington 'die-in' -

Outside Ferguson, others rallied in Brown's memory and called for change.

Hundreds of people demonstrated in and around the US capital Washington, including some who laid on the ground for several minutes in a "die-in" at a shopping mall near the Pentagon.

The NAACP wants police to use body cameras, changes to the system of equipping police with military hardware, a promotion of diversity on the force and an end to the use of major force in cases involving minor offenses.

Adrian West, a technology trainer, waited nearly two hours for the marchers to show up late, potentially missing a memorial service for a friend killed in a fight.

But he still expressed support, hopeful that nationwide protests would yet bring change.

"I think this is enough to get the federal government's attention, strong enough to make them listen, and it's quite possible Darren Wilson could end up getting indicted by the federal government."

A federal probe into whether Wilson violated Brown's civil rights is ongoing.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com