Popular coffee company Starbucks might want to go back to the drawing board real, real, real quick. The business’ apology on behalf of one of its stores having two black men arrested for not ordering anything is anything but comforting.
Saturday afternoon, Starbucks issued its apology which ultimately fell on deaf ears.
We apologize to the two individuals and our customers for what took place at our Philadelphia store on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/suUsytXHks
— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) April 14, 2018
Instead of making people feel better, the apology has sparked a range of deep-rooted frustrations and tense emotions.
I hope that more than just an apology, @Starbucks will use its platform to generate conversations about this. Why is it so ridiculously easy to call cops on blk men? Or shoot at a 14 year old who's knocking on a door. https://t.co/RL1hJR1IFL
— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) April 14, 2018
This lady's thread. Thank you for capturing this and for these comments. https://t.co/RL1hJQK7hb
— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) April 14, 2018
https://twitter.com/AndrayDomise/status/985145101566562304
You'll notice that nowhere in this "apology" was an admission of wrongdoing. Starbucks doesn't think the employees were wrong to call the cops on those men, they're just sorry the men got arrested over it. https://t.co/wcE6s20lwk
— EricaJoy (@EricaJoy) April 14, 2018
Outside the Starbucks today pic.twitter.com/vcr9QstkRT
— Melissa DePino (@missydepino) April 14, 2018
Yes, the two men were asked to leave @Starbucks, as the Philly Police said in their statement, but they sat there peacefully and had the nerve to ask WHY they were being asked to leave. What counts as peaceful protest? Isn't that what this is?!
— Melissa DePino (@missydepino) April 14, 2018
Bullshit apology #BoycottStarbucks https://t.co/9Hm4ZcbjQV
— garden variety socialist (@sunrainsunrain) April 14, 2018
This is a bad statement, written by lawyers and public relations folks who purposefully use vague language—“these matters” & “these type of situations.” https://t.co/7gAXSbXGug
— Josh Sternberg (@joshsternberg) April 14, 2018
You were started by progressives in the Northwest. This is about as far from a progressive statement of accountability as you can get. Disappointed in you to the point of boycotting you until you do the right thing. What does Howard Schultz think of all this? #BoycottStarbucks
— Lorraine Montez (@lorrainemontez) April 14, 2018
A Starbucks in Philadelphia called the police to remove two Black men who hadn’t ordered anything while they were waiting for a friend. The cops arrested them for trespassing. Today people are protesting in Philly. https://t.co/ESvxZdGf26 https://t.co/Afe2VdqF1v
— The Appeal (@theappeal) April 14, 2018
A video of two Black men being arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks for trespassing has drawn national outrage and an apology from Starbucks. But Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross says that the officers “did absolutely nothing wrong.” https://t.co/ESvxZdGf26
— The Appeal (@theappeal) April 14, 2018
Shameful.
Sadly, this is typical for the @PhillyPolice.
Of course what they did was wrong.
Show me the case of ANY peaceful white men waiting to meet someone at a Starbucks who get arrested.
This was deeply bigoted. https://t.co/Sm9sGuo7Ui
— Shaun King (@shaunking) April 14, 2018
We know what happened. It was a gross double standard rooted in racism. What we need is an apology followed by restitution. We need you to proactively make this right by the two young men you violated. https://t.co/enIbgtzGrK
— Shaun King (@shaunking) April 14, 2018
Earlier this week, the now-infamous video footage went viral and has since created massive social media talk about possibly boycotting Starbucks.
A video of the arrests posted on Twitter on Thursday already has been viewed nearly 4 million times as of this writing. According to Melissa DePino, who posted it, “The police were called because these men hadn’t ordered anything. They were waiting for a friend to show up, who did as they were taken out in handcuffs for doing nothing. All the other white ppl are wondering why it’s never happened to us when we do the same thing.” (Splinter News)
Story developing…
This is the type of wrong doings I warn my sons about on a daily basis. I am raising two respectable young men and I want them to avoid jail at all costs. In today’s world the color of rheir skin will get them their first ride….smdh #boycottstarbucks
This is overblown.
But something or get the hell out, it’s not that difficult.