By Quentin Langley
No-one thinks it was anything other than well-intentioned, but that does not mean it was well-thought out. The idea was to start a conversation about race in America. Recent events have shown that this is much-needed. Not only was there a widely condemned instance in which a grand jury failed to indict a police officer who throttled an African American on camera on Staten Island there was an equally well-publicised incident in Ferguson, Missouri, where polls suggest black people and white people had sharply divided views on what happened. There is definitely something to talk about.
So Starbucks invited its customers to start a conversations with baristas about race. ("Barista" is Starbucks for "server"). But the corporation offered no training to to baristas for the conversation. Obviously, that's not to suggest that without training people can't have the conversation. Baristas are as welcome as anyone else to have opinions. But if you expect them to have opinions and to converse with customers - who might, of course, be academic experts in the subject, or have a lifetime's personal experience of belonging to an ethnic minority - then some sort of training would seem to be in order. Otherwise staff - excuse me, "partners" - will be left exposed.
Naturally, it also left Starbucks exposed to criticism over the lack of diversity in the corporate leadership team.
As part of promoting the "third space" idea - somewhere that is not work and not home - Starbucks is probably right to tackle difficult issues. But this one could have been better thought out.
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