Starbucks Takes Initiative to End Racial Bias

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The month of May brings many exciting things for most people like Cinco De Mayo, Mother’s Day, and for students the end of another stressful school year. But after a video of two black men being arrested in a local Philadelphia Starbucks went viral, the month of May brings another exciting day for Starbucks employees across the country. On May 29th, roughly 8,000 Starbucks locations around the country are closing in observance of racial bias.

Starbucks’ CEO Kevin Johnson decided to close stores in the United States to train their 175,000 employees countrywide on how to properly deal with racially based issues like such. He released a statement saying that the arrest’s of Rashon Nelson, and Donte Robinson was a “reprehensible outcome”. Along with firing the employee who initially called the police, Kevin also committed to donating  $200,000 dollars to a program for young entrepreneurs in honor of the two men.

“We thought long and hard about it, and we feel like this is the best way to see that change that we want to see,” said Donte Robinson, one of those arrested. “It’s not a right-now thing that’s good for right now, but I feel like we will see the true change over time.”

Starbucks also released a statement stating that the two men involved in the incident will be able to continue their education fully funded by a partnership with Arizona State University

The actions Starbucks took against this situation symbolizes a change in America for most of the African American community. We hope to see other companies following in their footsteps to change America’s perspective on racial bias.