Is Starbucks Really Rooting Out Racism?

Yesterday afternoon Starbucks closed 8,000 stores for 4 hours to give 175,000 employees training "aimed at rooting out racial biases," even biases that the employees didn't know they have.

This, from the man who told Seattle and the state of Washington he would never sell the Seattle Supersonics to anyone who might move them out of state.

But this time he's serious. He really means it. He's going to "root out racism."

While the press is generally praising him, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s niece is pointing out the hypocrisy of Starbucks and its founder Howard Schultz.


Starbucks sent out this letter explaining their response to racism, and their motives behind the actions they are taking.

The Seattle Times says, "Many observers laud Starbucks for the undertaking" that emerged in the wake of an embarrassing incident that "has challenged fundamental parts of the company's values and image."

Underscore the words "embarrassing" and "image."

The embarrassing incident involved the arrest of two black men in a Philadelphia Starbucks store who came in, used the restrooms, and took a seat but didn't order anything.

Starbucks employees asked them to leave, they refused, so the employees called the police who came and removed the two men from the store.

The Seattle Times says, "While similar incidents of racism have played out publicly at other companies too, Starbucks stands out for the scope and attention around its response."

Ben Shapiro, writing for the Daily Wire, wrote at the time, "So, Starbucks is now the target of a Leftist-led boycott."

He noted that Starbucks has long courted liberals across the country with its overt commitment to Left-wing causes, "But now Starbucks has fallen afoul of the social justice crowd..."

He asks, "So, is Starbucks really chock full of racist baristas? The evidence isn't there."

Shapiro points out that the store manager told her bosses and authorities that she has encountered many people "who loiter in the cafe with no intentions of purchasing; at least one of those persons she claims, chased her around the store after she asked them to leave. Corporate policy, at that time back in April, prohibited loitering."

The police arrive, and according to the black Philadelphia chief of police Richard Ross, they asked the men repeatedly (at least 3 times) to leave---the men refused.

It's difficult to believe that racism among baristas in Philadelphia---that is 42% black, is widespread in Starbucks.

Shapiro says, "The Left has a long record of eating its own," suggesting that Starbucks may be more obsessed with satisfying their own fellow Lefties that are boycotting them than actually "rooting out racism."

Given Schultz's history, who knows the motives? But they are treating this matter as though racism is a widespread problem among many, perhaps most, of their employees.

Kevin Johnson, the CEO of Starbucks, says of the two men, "I'd like to have a dialog with them so that I can ensure that we have opportunity to really understand the situation and show some compassion and empathy for the experience they went through."

Speaking of "understanding the situation," a letter signed by Alveda King, MLK's niece, and several other Christian leaders is calling Kevin Johnson on the matter, asking him to get real---and stop the selective outrage.

Their letter said in part:

“Planned Parenthood Founder Margaret Sanger once said, ‘We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population,’”.

“In your April statement responding to the arrest of two African-American men sitting in one of your stores, you declared that Starbucks’ ‘founding values are based on humanity and inclusion.’

“As men and women who fight for the value and dignity of every human life, we ask:

“Where is the ‘humanity’ and ‘inclusion’ when your company matches employees’ donations to Planned Parenthood, whose founder Margaret Sanger was an outspoken racist with genocidal intentions?

“This week, Starbucks is holding ‘racial-bias education’ training for nearly 175,000 employees nationwide."

“If you think this public relations fix means Starbucks is no longer complicit in racism, it’s time to wake up and smell your own coffee."

“Active with the Ku Klux Klan and the eugenics movement, Margaret Sanger’s stated agenda was to eradicate the African American population. Her dream is being realized by the slaughter of minority children today through the horror of abortion."

“With every donation your company gives to Planned Parenthood, the largest single provider of abortions in the United States performing over 300,000 per year, Starbucks is contributing to one of the most racist organizations in our nation’s history."

“… So if Starbucks wants to own the corporate mantle of ending racist business practices, then we challenge you to stop funding Planned Parenthood’s House of Horrors which has taken precious lives away from minority communities; and from society at large.”

7 Inconvenient comments from Jesus

Luke 11:37-54, and Matthew 23: 1-39 record what we know as the "Woes of the Pharisees," and Matthew 23: 13-36 specifically records what is often called the "Seven Woes." Jesus knows motives.

Here's how he described those who claimed moral high ground but failed to practice what they preached.

1. False religion and pretense.
2. Spiritual and moral exercises, including long prayers to impress others.
3. Misleading the public regarding their true motives.
4. Hypocrisy in regard to their generosity.
5. Being merely actors playing a part.
6. Pharisees are "whited sepulchers, or graves" painted white on the outside---rotten on the inside.
7. Poisoning the culture.

The question many are asking, "Is Starbucks really trying to 'root out racism' with this overreaching event, or are they merely trying to placate their blood brothers and sisters on the far Left---and protect the cash flow?"

We'll soon see the true motive in their response to MLK's niece and her authentic pro-life colleagues. Or their lack of response to MLK's niece and her authentic pro-life colleagues.

Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Faithful.