It's 2018 and apparently Starbucks has decided that if you are black, you can't sit in their stores. At least, that is what it looks like based on a horrific story coming out of Philadelphia, where two black men were arrested for...sitting in the store while waiting for a friend. Yes, they were just sitting. Not committing a crime. Not causing a disturbance.
This incident happened this past Thursday in Philadelphia at a Starbucks located at 18th and Spruce Streets. It was captured on video:
The men were literally just sitting at a table waiting for their friend. Many people can be overheard on video standing up for the men, saying that they had done nothing wrong.
To their credit, the two men remained calm during the entire interaction, even after they were HANDCUFFED and escorted out of the store by the Philadelphia police.
The Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross stood by his officer, stating that they “did absolutely nothing wrong.”
WAIT, what? So they just handcuffed and arrested anyone they want, for no cause? This is the world we live in? Would they have handcuffed and arrested two white men? How about two women? I am going to guess the answer would be no. I, for one, have spent hours at a time at my local Starbucks...and I have never drank coffee in my life.
The backlash was swift.
Snopes also investigated.
Starbucks issued an apology...
It was pretty pathetic, in my opinion. The manager that did this should have been fired immediately. There is zero other response. You can't "train" a staff member to not be a racist. Do better, Starbucks, or risk losing a lot of customers.
